The Holocaust

Freddie Knoller's Story

Freddie was born in Vienna in Austria.

“My father was an accountant and quite strict. My mother loved life; she was very easygoing, always happy and very musical. She made sure that her three sons received musical tuition.

From early childhood, my family and I were subjected to anti-Semitism. I was set upon ever so often by Christian children on my way to school. On the night of 9 November 1938, when the Nazis burnt down all the synagogues, my parents insisted that we, the children, should emigrate.

I was the first one to leave, going illegally to Belgium.

When the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940, everyone fled to France. After spending time in the unoccupied zone of Vichy, I moved to Paris where the Gestapo eventually arrested me.

At the beginning of October 1943 I was taken to the railway station where people were squeezed into cattle wagons. We travelled for three days and three nights to our destination. I was squeezed against a middle-aged Frenchman called Robert, a gentle person who looked very much like my father. We became good friends. He told me that he was a doctor and I did not realize then that it is because of him that I am alive today.

When we arrived we saw a sign “Osviecim” (Auschwitz) on the railway platform. We guessed that we were somewhere in Poland. The SS selected the younger people who were to walk to the camp, but trucks took the older men and women with their children away to be murdered in the gas chambers.

On 18 January 1945, as the Russians approached Auschwitz, the whole camp was evacuated. We were lined up in rows of five and were told that we would have to walk, and that anybody trying to escape would be shot. We went westward, walking in our wooden shoes on icy, snow-covered roads. We were still in our striped, thin clothes. Many collapsed and were immediately shot on the spot.

Finally, we were taken to a railway station and squeezed into an open cattle wagon, standing room only. We travelled through Austria and Germany, seven days and seven nights, until we reached our destination, Dora-Nordhausen camp, the place where the V1 and V2 rockets were manufactured.

As the American troops were nearing our region, we were evacuated to Bergen-Belsen. There was no more food available. The German SS disappeared, and Croatian and Hungarian SS units guarded us. We dug into the ground to find some edible roots. Many collapsed from hunger and dysentery and died.

On 15 April 1945, British troops entered Bergen-Belsen.

I returned to France.”

Freddie returned to France and was looked after by his friend Robert, the French doctor from the train.

“In 1947, I emigrated to the USA and became a naturalised US citizen. In 1950 I met my wife, Freda, an English girl, on a blind date. We got married on 31 December 1950. After two years in Baltimore, my wife became homesick and we made our way back to her parents in London. “

This is a summary of a fuller description that you can find at http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/survivor-stories/holocaust-testimony-freddie-knoller