Scribe Archive

726 interviews available

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Showing 1-24 of 726 interviews

01

The interviewee, a quarter-Jewish man, discusses his experiences in Nazi Germany, including feeling like a second-class citizen and grappling with racial ideology. He recounts how his military service was impacted by his partial Jewish heritage, the varying reactions of comrades and acquaintances to his background, and his family's complex relationship with the Nazi regime. He also shares the story of his aunt, who worked as a nurse and whose marriage to a captain was later dissolved after he was reported missing on the eastern front.

1 Friedrich Schlesinger (50% Jew), 13 April 2002, Hamburg, Ger

4/13/2002

Friedrich Schlesinger, a 50% Jewish man living in Germany, discusses being drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1939 despite his non-Aryan status, which initially led to a "Replacement reserve two" designation. He recounts his experiences in basic training, including working with horses and learning Morse code, and his detachment's focus on wire and wireless communication. Schlesinger also touches on his awareness of propaganda and atrocities related to the invasion of Poland, and his resigned acceptance of military service due to the war and the impact of Nazi policies on his family.

01 Hans-Gert Falkenberg 12 April 2002

4/12/2002

Hans-Gert Falkenberg, interviewed in 2002, discusses growing up in Germany as a child with a Jewish grandmother and a baptized Christian mother during the rise of Nazism. He describes how he didn't feel Jewish but became aware of antisemitism through his schooling and the departure of Jewish families, leading him to try to prove himself through academics and athletics. Falkenberg also recounts the increasing difficulties his family faced due to his mother's Jewish heritage, including her losing her job and his father being pressured to divorce her.