Hagen, Louis (Oral history)

German Jewish civilian in Germany, 1933-1936 including period of imprisonment in Schloss Lichtenburg camp, 1934; refugee in Oxford, GB, 1936-1939; private served with 165 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1940-1941; NCO served with Glider Pilot Regt in GB and at Arnhem, Netherlands, 1943- 1945; war correspondent with South East Asia Command magazine Phoenix in Far East, 1945; civilian journalist in Germany, 1945-1950

REEL 1 Background in Berlin and Potsdam, Germany, 1916-1933: family; education; his father's political opinions; employment at BMW. Aspects of period as civilian in Germany, 1933-1936 including imprisonment in Schloss Lichtenburg camp, 1934: how he was categorised as Jewish by Nazi regime; his father's refusal to believe that Nazism would not survive; reasons for his arrest, 1934; incarceration in Schloss Lichtenburg camp; conditions in camp; homosexual sadism of guards; torturing of prisoners; discussions he had with left wing prisoners; story of how he was rescued from camp by a Foreign Office official Herr Engelmann. REEL 2 Continues: circumstances of how he was sacked from his BMW job. Aspects of period as refugee in GB, 1936-1939: aid from Sir Andrew Macfadyen to escape to GB, 1/1936; friendship with Nye Bevan and Jennie Lee; work as mechanic with Pressed Steel Company in Cowley, Oxford; relations with English people; friendship with Peter Meddawar; lack of anti- German feeling against him in GB; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; reasons for loss of employment with Pressed Steel Company; unpaid work at The Barn Theatre at Shere, 1939; memories of Peter Ustinov. Aspects of period as private with 165 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1940-1941: circumstances of arrest by Military Police as deserter in London after enlistment, 1940; joining unit at Bideford, summer 1940; guard duties. REEL 3 Continues: cosmopolitan nature of unit; building latrines; belief in possibility of German invasion; how regiments eventually became open to member of Pioneer Corps. Aspects of period as NCO with Glider Pilot Regt in GB, 1943- 1944: acceptance into Glider Pilot Regt, 1943; prior recollection of conviction that Britain would fight on; escape he had from being returned to unit. Recollections of operations as NCO with Glider Pilot Regt at Arnhem, Netherlands, 1944: his elation at being able to do something against Nazis; successful landing; his realisation when he saw the confusion that it would not be a decisive blow against Germans; attachment to British officer because of his knowledge of German; what he heard Germans saying during patrols; fear of being captured and his nationality being revealed; escape across River Rhine; how he came to write up his experiences of Arnhem. REEL 4 Continues: story of his writing of his book 'Arnhem Lift' and how it came to be published. Story of becoming journalist for South East Asia Command magazine Phoenix in Far East, 1945. Aspects of period as civilian journalist in Germany, 1945-1950: his return to Germany as journalist; his investigation of German attitudes to Nazi regime; opportunistic reasons for professional classes acquiescing to regime; contact with Germans who admitted supporting regime; how his attitude to Germany changed; reasons for settling in GB.