Description
Object description
German Jewish student with University of Berlin, Germany, 1933-1937; emigrated from Germany to GB, 1939; refugee in Kitchener Camp, Richborough, GB, 1939; NCO served with 93 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB and France, 10/1939-6/1940; NCO and officer served with Pioneer Corps in GB and North West Europe, 6/1940-4/1945; officer served with 102 Control Section, Control Commission for Germany at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 4/1945-5/1945; served with 101 Control Section, Control Commission for Germany in Germany and Netherlands, 1945-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Berlin, Germany, 1914-1939: family; education; studying for PhD in economics under Profressor Constantin von Diedze and Profressor Freiherr Heinrich von Stackelberg at University of Berlin; role in assisting Jewish civilians to leave Germany with the help of British consular official, 1936-1939; story of Imperial Japanese Government refusing request from Nazis to return Jewish refugees in Shanghai, China; reason for changes in British immigration policy following Munich Agreement, 9/1938; opening of Kitchener Refugee Camp, Richborough, GB, 1939; re-emigration system; parents' death in Luxembourg prior to start of deportations. Aspects of period as refugee in Kitchener Refugee Camp, Richborough, GB, 1939: emigration from Germany and arrival in camp; description of camp and daily activities; reaction to status as 'enemy alien' following outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; volunteering for service with Pioneer Corps, 10/1939.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as private and NCO with 93rd Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1939-1940: description of 'alien' companies in Pioneer Corps; reason for changing name from Horwitz to Horwell; rank and promotion; relations with other ranks and commanding officer. Aspects of period as NCO with 93 Coy, Pioneer Corps, British Expeditionary Force in France, 4/1940-6/1940: posting to France, 4/1940 duties as company quartermaster sergeant; attitude of Sergeant Major John Woolard to Jewish intellectuals in company; retreat to Saint-Malo and evacuation aboard Southern Railway steamer TS St Briac, 16/6/1940; conditions on board TS St Briac; story about survivors of Guards unit evacuated from Saint Nazaire. Aspects of period as NCO and officer with Pioneer Corps in GB, 6/1940-8/1944: reaction to being interned on return from France, 6/1940; prior recollection of French civilians looting kit left behind at Saint-Malo, France; billets and duties; story of attending church parade to Yom Kippur service in Newbury.
REEL 3 Continues: changes to British Government policy towards 'enemy aliens', 1943; attending officer training; duties as officer with regular unit and relations with men under his command. Aspects of operations as officer with Pioneer Corps in North West Europe, 9/1944-4/1945: duties as interpreter and intelligence officer in France; arriving during V2 Rocket attack, Antwerp, Belgium, 19/1/1945; crossing River Rhine, Germany; transfer to 102 Control Section, Control Commission for Germany in Germany; reaction to sight of photographs of liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Recollections of period as officer with 102 Control Section, Control Commision for Germany at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 4/1945-5/1945: posting to camp, 15/4/1945; duties in camp; opinion of Commandant Colonel Bird; story of obtaining 7,000 beds for camp hospital; story of taking Burgomaster of Bergen around camp and his reaction to conditions; story of Marlene Dietrich visiting camp to find sister.
REEL 4 Continues: opinion of Marlene Dietrich and receiving letter of thanks; conditions in camp and problem of typhus outbreak; opinion of food provided for camp inmates; description of Germans burying dead; story of two rabbis saying Kaddish prayers; psychological effect of working in camp; repatriation system for inmates; intervening to prevent forcible repatriation of inmates to Eastern Europe; importance of having Jewish people among liberators; story of tracing Anita Lasker-Wallfisch's sister; VE Day celebrations in camp, 8/5/1945.
REEL 5 Continues: sight of former camp commandant Josef Kramer in chains prior to trial; question of insularity of British. Aspects of period as officer with 101 Control Section, Control Commission for Germany in Germany and the Netherlands, 1945-1946: posting to section in Northern Germany, 5/1945; duties as interpreter and processing 120,000 German Army prisoners of war; German General Paul Reichelt's role in peaceful evacuation of 70,000 German Army troops from Netherlands, 1945; reaction to treatment of troops by German peasant farmers; post-war friendship with General Paul Reichelt; role of General Paul Reichelt in preventing German bombing of dykes in Netherlands and co-operation with Dutch Resistance, 4/1945.
REEL 6 Continues: further comments on General Paul Reichelt's role in Netherlands including organising food drops to Dutch civilians; General Paul Reichelt's post-war service with the West German Army (Bundeswehr); attitude towards Germany and Germans; amusing story about language interpretation. Aspects of post-war life in GB: adaptation to civilian life; business career; problem of British nationality; attitude to remembering Holocaust; reflections on experiences at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp; description of different types of death camps; comparison of Holocaust with other genocides.