Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Hirsh, Michael
Publication Date
May 2008
Abstract
This is an oral history interview with Holocaust concentration camp liberator Harry Gerenstein. Gerenstein was a truck driver with the 6th Armored Division, which liberated Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. Their convoy encountered some Russians who told them about the camp where they had been prisoners, so Gerenstein and his comrades decided to go see it. They did not spend very long at the camp, feeling overwhelmed by the sights and the smell, but Gerenstein took several photographs of the crematorium. He also helped liberate a small camp of Hungarian Jewish women who were used as factory workers, giving one his spare pair of shoes. In this interview, Gerenstein also describes some of his other wartime experiences as well as his lifelong correspondence with a Belgian woman he met during the Battle of the Bulge.
Keywords
Concentration camps--History--Germany, Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945--Personal narratives, World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Germany, World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation, World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities, World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American, World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States, Veterans--United States--Interviews, Genocide, Crimes against humanity
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
audio/mp3
Identifier
C65-00047
Recommended Citation
Gerenstein, Harry, "Harry Gerenstein oral history interview" (2008). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 37.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/37