{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/5q4rj49x1k/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Kurt R."]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/005/original/Fortunoff-Logo.png?1549333634","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eKurt R. was born in 1920 in Aachen, Germany. His nuclear family consisted of his parents – his father had a pharmacy store – and his 2 siblings, a brother born in 1926 and a sister born in 1930. His childhood was comfortable. Kurt attended a Jewish elementary school.  Practicing and observing Judaism was important to his family, although at the same time his father felt very much as a German. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1933 things began to change. Kurt, who was by now in high school was ostracized as a Jew and abandoned by his gentile friends and teachers. At the age of 14 Kurt was told by his principal not to return to school. Kurt swore to himself that he was no longer German and would never be but his father continued to be patriotic - so his family stayed. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOut of school and banned from most public places, Kurt joined a Zionist group and became an apprentice in a Jewish-owned textile factory. It was not his father’s store being closed, but instead it was Kristallnacht that prompted Kurt’s father to take him and a cousin to Brussels. They crossed the border illegally. In Brussels they were refugees without income or work, but they were physically safe. When forced to sell their pharmacy building and house back in Aachen as part of aryanization, Kurt’s remaining family fled to Brussels (his mother and two siblings). \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe family remained united until 1940, when the Germans attacked Belgium. The Belgians became suspicious of Kurt’s family being German spies. The family was deported to France, where the family was forced to split up: Kurt’s mother and siblings were caught by the Germans and sent back to Brussels - where they managed to go into hiding and establish false identities with the help of the Belgian resistance. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt and his father found themselves in the refugee camp St. Cyprien in the south of France. They spent one hard winter in dreadful conditions amidst a typhoid fever epidemic – which claimed the life of Kurt’s father. Left with only friends his own age, Kurt volunteered to work for the French and was sent to a farm , where Kurt’s life was relatively good with enough food and comparably good treatment. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt was picked up by French and German police on August 21, 1942  and taken to Drancy. From there he was deported to Silesia (Poland) to the labor camps Oderberg (Bogomin) and Seibersdorf (Sebredowice). Now under heavy guard, Kurt worked rigorously to build a freight train station. The laborers were brutalized through beatings, severe punishment and threats to their lives. Eventually Kurt was moved to Blechhammer (Auschwitz IV) – a concentration camp. His work detail was building bunkers. Kurt was so weak and hungry by now that he was ready to give up. Friends helped him to hold on. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn January 1945, when the Russians neared Auschwitz, Kurt was taken on the death march. Conditions were horrible. The march reached Gross-Rosen, then dragged on to Dresden, where the prisoners witnessed the bombing of the city. Near Dresden they were loaded on open freight cars and shipped to Buchenwald. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn Buchenwald, which was overflowing with prisoners at that point, Kurt was lucky to be one of 10 people to be admitted to the infirmary. He was weighing 80 pounds, suffering from diseases and frostbite. A German political prisoner amputated Kurt’s toes without any medicine. This prisoner saved his life again when the Germans wanted to liquidate the infirmary. Shortly after this the Buchenwald underground took over the camp and handed it over to the approaching US forces. Kurt was sent to a hospital in Erfurt where the Americans provided medical care. From there Kurt headed back to Brussels to find out that his mother and siblings had survived. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt emigrated to the US in 1948 together with his wife, whom he had met in Belgium shortly after the war. They were eager to leave Europe behind and prospered in the US. Kurt worked himself up as a businessman into a leading position, Ella (his wife) worked in a traveling agency. They have two daughters and five grandchildren. As a retiree Kurt lives between Florida and New York, he lectures and writes about his experience as well as studies Jewish history.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Gabrielle Emanuel)  \u003c/p\u003e (Abstract)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://archiv.zwangsarbeit-archiv.de/en/interviews/za584"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2005-10-01 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["R., Kurt, 1920 (Interviewee)","Laub, Dori, 1937-06-08 - 2018-06-23 (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["2 videotapes"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["https://archiv.zwangsarbeit-archiv.de/en/interviews/za584"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Forced Labor (topical)","Video tapes (topical)","Oral histories (document genres) (genre_form)","Saint-Cyprien Internment Camp (Person or Corporate Body)","Gurs Internment Camp (Person or Corporate Body)","Drancy Transit Camp (Person or Corporate Body)","Oderberg Forced Labor Camp for Jews (Person or Corporate Body)","Seibersdorf Forced Labor Camp for Jews (Person or Corporate Body)","Blechhammer Sub-Concentration Camp (Person or Corporate Body)","Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp (Person or Corporate Body)","Buchenwald Concentration Camp (Person or Corporate Body)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["New Haven, Conn. (Place of Recording)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Relation"]},"value":{"en":["Kurt R... Interview za584. Interview Archive „Forced Labor 1939-1945“. Access at https://archiv.zwangsarbeit-archiv.de/en/interviews/za584 (conforms to)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["za584 (Source Identifier)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eKurt R. was born in 1920 in Aachen, Germany. His nuclear family consisted of his parents \u0026ndash; his father had a pharmacy store \u0026ndash; and his 2 siblings, a brother born in 1926 and a sister born in 1930. His childhood was comfortable. Kurt attended a Jewish elementary school. \u0026nbsp;Practicing and observing Judaism was important to his family, although at the same time his father felt very much as a German.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1933 things began to change. Kurt, who was by now in high school was ostracized as a Jew and abandoned by his gentile friends and teachers. At the age of 14 Kurt was told by his principal not to return to school. Kurt swore to himself that he was no longer German and would never be but his father continued to be patriotic - so his family stayed.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOut of school and banned from most public places, Kurt joined a Zionist group and became an apprentice in a Jewish-owned textile factory. It was not his father\u0026rsquo;s store being closed, but instead it was Kristallnacht that prompted Kurt\u0026rsquo;s father to take him and a cousin to Brussels. They crossed the border illegally. In Brussels they were refugees without income or work, but they were physically safe. When forced to sell their pharmacy building and house back in Aachen as part of aryanization, Kurt\u0026rsquo;s remaining family fled to Brussels (his mother and two siblings).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe family remained united until 1940, when the Germans attacked Belgium. The Belgians became suspicious of Kurt\u0026rsquo;s family being German spies. The family was deported to France, where the family was forced to split up: Kurt\u0026rsquo;s mother and siblings were caught by the Germans and sent back to Brussels - where they managed to go into hiding and establish false identities with the help of the Belgian resistance.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt and his father found themselves in the refugee camp St. Cyprien in the south of France. They spent one hard winter in dreadful conditions amidst a typhoid fever epidemic \u0026ndash; which claimed the life of Kurt\u0026rsquo;s father. Left with only friends his own age, Kurt volunteered to work for the French and was sent to a farm , where Kurt\u0026rsquo;s life was relatively good with enough food and comparably good treatment.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt was picked up by French and German police on August 21, 1942 \u0026nbsp;and taken to Drancy. From there he was deported to Silesia (Poland) to the labor camps Oderberg (Bogomin) and Seibersdorf (Sebredowice). Now under heavy guard, Kurt worked rigorously to build a freight train station. The laborers were brutalized through beatings, severe punishment and threats to their lives. Eventually Kurt was moved to Blechhammer (Auschwitz IV) \u0026ndash; a concentration camp. His work detail was building bunkers. Kurt was so weak and hungry by now that he was ready to give up. Friends helped him to hold on.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn January 1945, when the Russians neared Auschwitz, Kurt was taken on the death march. Conditions were horrible. The march reached Gross-Rosen, then dragged on to Dresden, where the prisoners witnessed the bombing of the city. Near Dresden they were loaded on open freight cars and shipped to Buchenwald.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn Buchenwald, which was overflowing with prisoners at that point, Kurt was lucky to be one of 10 people to be admitted to the infirmary. He was weighing 80 pounds, suffering from diseases and frostbite. A German political prisoner amputated Kurt\u0026rsquo;s toes without any medicine. This prisoner saved his life again when the Germans wanted to liquidate the infirmary. Shortly after this the Buchenwald underground took over the camp and handed it over to the approaching US forces. Kurt was sent to a hospital in Erfurt where the Americans provided medical care. From there Kurt headed back to Brussels to find out that his mother and siblings had survived.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKurt emigrated to the US in 1948 together with his wife, whom he had met in Belgium shortly after the war. They were eager to leave Europe behind and prospered in the US. Kurt worked himself up as a businessman into a leading position, Ella (his wife) worked in a traveling agency. They have two daughters and five grandchildren. As a retiree Kurt lives between Florida and New York, he lectures and writes about his experience as well as studies Jewish history. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Gabrielle Emanuel) \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"]},"provider":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/005/original/Fortunoff-Logo.png?1549333634","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/208/026/small/ZA584_02_01_sd720p.mp4_1695052145.jpg?1695052146","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208026","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - ZA584_02_01_sd720p.mp4"]},"duration":3575.84,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/208/026/small/ZA584_02_01_sd720p.mp4_1695052145.jpg?1695052146","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208026/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208026/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-fortunoff.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/208/026/original/ZA584_02_01_sd720p.mp4?1695052140","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3575.84,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208026","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]},{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208027","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - ZA584_02_02_sd720p.mp4"]},"duration":3465.16,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/208/027/small/ZA584_02_02_sd720p.mp4_1695053012.jpg?1695053013","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208027/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208027/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-fortunoff.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/208/027/original/ZA584_02_02_sd720p.mp4?1695053007","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3465.16,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://fortunoff.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2227/collection_resources/107159/file/208027","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]}]}