Collection: Oral history

German civilian with Jewish father and Catholic mother in Berlin, Germany, 1939-1945

REEL 1: Aspects of period in Germany, 1920-1945: family background of parents in Czechoslovakia , Austria and Germany; childhood and education; problem of ill-health; father's trade as seed merchant; attended multi-denominational school; brought up in both Jewish and Catholic faiths; reason for not being baptised as a child; story of pre-war visit to Prague; relationship with mother; father worked in same building and met foreign clients; recreational activities including trips to zoo; aptitude for languages; learned English and French; reaction to rise of Nazis during 1930s; small number of Jewish pupils in school; reason for family members not having to wear yellow star; reason for father not being sent to concentration camp; story of father having to register and disappearing for three days; legal status of father as Czech national married to Austrian Catholic; story of being baptised with sister age 20, 1940; description of war work at aeroplane factory; problem of cold winter; story of travelling to work on train with no windows; problem of not being able to trust anyone in factory; description of ration system linked to type of work; reaction to disappearance of Jewish schoolfriends; story about Bishop of Cologne; story of attending high school with children of diplomats; attitude to lessons in Nazi ideology; question of foreigners being under suspicion; attitude to leaving Germany; problem of food shortages; story of eating tins of raw fish; attitude to marriage; story about death and burial of father; story of family hiding elderly Jewish couple in flat; opinion of Vatican Radio; story of being moved into new accommodation after flat bombed; story of buying new pair of shoes REEL 2 Continues: reaction to arrival of Russians in Berlin, 1945; sheltered in cellar during bombing; story of putting on bandages and feigning illness to deter sexual assault by Russian soldiers; story of Russian officer preventing his troops from entering cellar; used old x-ray charts to replace glass in windows; story of horses being killed and eaten; description of work as translator at British forces canteen; attitude to post-war Russian presence in Berlin; occupation; various memories of friend Christina Tobinski; story of joining secret Catholic church organisation; description of uniform.