Interview with Egon Ernest Brent

German Jewish civilian businessman in Berlin, Germany, 1933-1939; emigrated from Germany to GB, 4/1939; refugee in GB, 4/1939-12/1939; NCO served with Pioneer Corps in GB and France, 1940-1944; NCO served as interrogator in Intelligence Corps in GB, 1944-1945

REEL 1: Background in Görlitz and Berlin, Germany, 1906-1939: family; memories of First World War including anti-British propaganda; attitude to political events in Germany, 1918-1919; education and question of anti-Semitism; death of father; employment in family linen supply business; reaction to rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazis, 1933; story of selling business for small percentage of actual value; employment; story of attempt to emigrate to GB, 1936; fate of mother and other family members in Holocaust; story of fiancée emigrating as domestic servant to GB 6/1939; problem of increasing anti-Semitism; reaction to events of Kristallnacht, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938. REEL 2 Continues: memories of Kristallnacht, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938. Aspects of emigration from Germany to GB, 4/1939: problem of obtaining visa to emigrate; emigration to GB on trainee visa scheme problem of corruption in emigration procedure; amount of money allowed to be taken out of Germany; story of damage to crockery; description of journey from Germany and arrival in Harwich, GB, 13/4/1939. Aspects of period as refugee in GB, 4/1939-12/1939: move to London and employment; arrival of future wife Irene Altmann, 6/1939; accommodation and living conditions; marriage, 27/6/1940. REEL 3 Continues: communication with mother in Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Czechoslovakia; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; reason for volunteering for British Army, 1939; call up for service with Pioneer Corps and training, 12/1939. Aspects of period as NCO with Pioneer Corps in France, 1940: posting to Le Havre, 1940; description of duties as lance-corporal; opinion of refugee and British recruits; opinion of adequacy of training and weapons; story of avoiding capture by Germans; operations in Rennes and Saint-Malo; description of evacuation from Saint-Malo to Weymouth, GB, 6/1940; problem of mines; story of warning shot fired over vessel's bows on entering harbour at Weymouth; morale after evacuation. Aspects of period as NCO with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1940-1944: remustering at Earl's Court, London; description of duties in Somerset and Long Marston, attitude to possible German invasion; role in guarding material for D-Day landings, 1944. REEL 4 Continues: attitude of authorities to refugees in Pioneer Corps; reason for recommendation for transfer to Intelligence Corps, 1944; story of bringing back deserters from Pioneer Corps; War Office vetting procedures and selection board. Recollections of period as NCO with Intelligence Corps in GB, 1944-1945: posting to Latimer House prisoner of war camp; description of prisoner of war camp and inter-service personnel; opinion of facilities; description of duties evaluating interrogations of German prisoners of war; use of informers and hidden microphones in cells with Nazi prisoners of war; nature of intelligence material obtained including prior warning of German V1 Flying Bomb attacks; story of press being told to report first German V1 Flying Bomb attack as gas explosion; story of attempt to warn wife about German V1 Flying Bomb attack on London; question of Americans ignoring intelligence information about German troop movements during Ardennes offensive, 12/1944-1/1945; reaction to news of sinking of Bismarck, 5/1941. REEL 5 Continues: attitude to work with Intelligence Corps; demobilisation and naturalisation; use of intelligence evaluations by Prime Minister Winston Churchill; co-operation with Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park; description of technology used; policy of destroying original recordings and preserving transcripts. Reflections on Holocaust: story of mother's fate in Holocaust; story of picture smuggled out of Nazi concentration camp; own and wife's attitude to Germans; question of compensation and pensions for Holocaust survivors; pride in being Jewish; attitude to events of Holocaust and interest of family; opinion of Imperial War Museum's Holocaust Exhibition; reflections on period of wartime service with Pioneer Corps and Intelligence Corps.