Block, Peter Albert (Oral history)

German Jewish private served with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1941-1943; served with 21st Independent Parachute Coy in GB, Middle East and Italy, 1943-1944; served with 1st Independent Parachute Platoon, 2nd Parachute Bde in Italy, France, and Greece, 1944-1945

REEL 1 Background in Germany and GB, 1922-1940: family background; adoption; background to emigration to GB, 1934; education; employment. Aspects of period as internee in Huyton Internment Camp, Liverpool, GB, 1940-1941: attitude towards internment; activities; camp organisation; enlistment in British Army. Aspects of period as private with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1941-1943: attitude and background of troops; leaving unit. Aspects of period as private with 21st Independent Parachute Coy in GB, North Africa and Italy, 1943-1944: character of Major John Lander; formation and role of unit; interviews prior to joining unit; pattern of training in GB and North Africa; story of German POWs in Tunisia; anti-Semitic act witnessed during leave in Tunis, Tunisia; attachment to US Army Air Force in Sicily; voyage to Taranto, Italy; involvement in Italian Campaign; period in reserve; division of unit. Aspects of operations as private with 1st Independent Parachute Platoon, 2nd Parachute Bde in Italy, France and Greece, 1944-1945: plan for Operation Hasty in Italy, 6/1944; results of Operation Hasty; period in Rome; nature of Operation Dragoon in Southern France, 8/1944; flight to France; airborne landing and results; role of operation; reunions; period in France. REEL 2 Continues: service in Italy; move to and political situation in Greece; arrival with government at Megara; deterioration of situation; nature of political situation in Greece; final period of service in Italy, 1945; return to GB. Aspects of period as private with Airborne Forces in GB, 1945-1946: reunion with old unit; effects of refusal to serve in Palestine; period in Formation College outside Edinburgh; demobilisation. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, Yugoslavia, Israel, Italy, US and Eastern Europe, 1946-1968: university application; attending London School of Economics; work on Yugoslav Youth Railway; political situation; reasons for leaving Communist Party of Great Britain; period in Israel including story of meeting wife at anti-fascist demonstration; marriage; obtaining employment in pharmaceutical industry; visit to Trieste during Italian takeover, 1954; work with American company in US and Eastern Europe. REEL 3 Continues: problems from visiting a hospital in Czechoslovakia; work with Beechams in Eastern Europe; story of Swiss assistant's problems with visa; discovery of informer friend; impressions of Prague Spring, Czechlovakia, 1968; corruption in Czechoslovakia; problems with organisation in Romania; character of Romanian assistant; contact of colleagues with MI5; memories of colleagues in Bulgaria and Poland including Ted Zapinsky; example of anti-Semitism during tour around Warsaw, Poland; story of visit to China, 1985. Recollections of background in Germany and GB, 1922-1940: awareness of political situation in Germany during 1930s; memories of father including interment in France during Second World War. REEL 4 Continues: contact with father; Vichy French handover of father to Germans; story of grandmother; search for grandfather's grave in Madrid; memories of childhood; reactions on move to GB, 1934; family in GB; education; reaction to invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1939; outbreak of war, 9/1939; education in Hindhead and Mill Hill; civilian employment; internment in 7/1940; possibility of naturalisation; contact with doctor refugees; reactions to internment, 6/1940. Aspects of period as private with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1941-1943: relations with civilians; frustration with and attempts to leave Pioneer Corps. REEL 5 Continues: drill and standard of turnout; nature of service of friends who also left Pioneer Corps; background of troops including ex-French Foreign Legionnaries; meetings with Pioneer Corps colleagues. Aspects of period as private with 21st Independent Parachute Coy and 1st Independent Parachute Platoon, 2nd Airborne Bde in GB, Middle East, Italy and Greece, 1943-1945: joining 21st Independent Parachute Coy; pattern of training; death of Major John Lander; organisation of parachute drops; opposition faced in Southern France, 8/1944; character of Operation Hasty in Italy, 6/1944; details of Eureka/Rebecca system; marking of drop zone; removal of anti-glider defences; responsibilities for lead aircraft; service in North Africa; relation with civilians of different backgrounds in North Africa; search for Jews in Salonika, Greece; transfer request in Greece and reasons for disillusionment during service there;; contact with Yugoslavs; question of remaining in British Army; VE Day celebrations, 5/1945; 1945 General Election; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. REEL 6 Continues: reflections on war. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, Yugoslavia, Israel, Italy, US and Eastern Europe, 1946-1968: post-war atmosphere in GB;; memories of fellow London School of Economics students John Stonehouse and Alfred Sherman; obtaining employment after university; reasons for attraction to Zionism; period living in Israel; changes in Israel; discussion of modern situation in Israel; contact with Palestinians; attitude towards Germans and story of work visit to West Germany; experiences from visits to East Germany including arrest of wife, Hannah Block. REEL 7 Continues: further details of experiences in East Germany; question of lasting effects of war; work on plantation in Mauritius.