Oral Histories
Engage with the voices of survivors, liberators, witnesses, and more. A project orchestrated and funded by Vida “Sister” Goldman Prince.Introduction from “Sister” Prince

Holocaust survivor Anna Gruber, left, with Oral History Project Chairman Vida “Sister” Prince, right
When people ask me how I became involved in oral history, I have always told them I “backed” into it, or I “fell” into oral history. I believed this to be true. I was born in 1933, and I’ve always had a strong interest in World War II and felt deeply about Israel since my visit there in 1954. Like many other American Jews, I was horrified, angry, and anguished by the Holocaust. I bless the day in 1979 when I read a small article in the St. Louis Jewish Light about a Holocaust Center that had been established in 1977. I quickly became interested and phoned Alex Grobman, the director. We met, and Alex tutored me over the next couple of months and supplied me with different periodicals to learn more about the Holocaust. I was touched and deeply moved by all I was learning and was in awe of people who endured so much emotional and physical pain. I knew I had found something I wanted to do for as long as I was able. Little did I know then that the survivors’ lives would become so much a part of my life.
Since 1979, I have been Chairman of the Oral Histories Project. I am pleased to say that many interviewers over the years have interviewed not only Holocaust Survivors, but also liberators of Nazi concentration camps and other non-Jewish witnesses living in Europe during World War II. The St. Louis Center for Holocaust Studies (now the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum) was one of the early oral history projects that interviewed survivors, and we felt like pioneers – we were breaking new ground. I feel truly blessed and grateful to the people we have interviewed for opening up their hearts and souls and trusting us with their personal history. I am proud that these voices and photographs will be displayed so that future generations will continue to be witnesses to this catastrophic period of world history.
I would like to thank Margi Lenga Kahn and Michael Kahn who allowed us to use funds given to the Museum in memory of their father-in-law and father, Bill Kahn, to digitize these Oral Histories approximately five years ago. That gift laid the foundation for what we are able to bring to you through this website.
Lastly, I would like to extend my gratitude to Jean Cavender, Andrew Goldfeder, Diane Everman, and Felicia Wertz at the Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, who helped ensure that these interviews remain accessible to all.
How to Navigate the Site:
Visitors to the Oral Histories site can explore the entries in a number of ways:
- By nationality, with 18 different countries represented.
- By locations, including 339 sites like specific concentration camps or cities that people lived.
- By experience, sorting histories based on personal events like being sent to a ghetto, serving as a soldier or aiding Jewish refugees.
Each oral history includes a range of information about the person and their life. Where possible, you’ll find photos, a biography, interview recordings and transcripts, an interactive map and timeline, and a compelling quote from their story.
We are grateful to offer the Oral Histories project as a celebration of life and a crucial part of honoring and remembering the past.
Click here to learn about the heart and soul of this projectExplore Oral Histories
Filter By

Harold Abrams

Harold Abrams' Experience
- Liberated a Concentration Camp
- Was a Soldier

Morris Abrams

Morris Abrams' Experience
- Liberated a Concentration Camp
- Was a Soldier

Ilse Altman

Ilse Altman's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp

Pearl Asher

Pearl Asher's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Posed as a Non-Jewish Person

Sanford and Michael Asher

Sanford and Michael Asher's Experience
- Born in Displaced Persons Camp
- Lived in a Displaced Persons camp
- Second Generation History

Irene Baron

Irene Baron's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Sent to Internment Camp

Rachel Benrubi

Rachel Benrubi's Experience
- Aided Jewish Refugees
- Converted to Judaism
- Family or Person in Mixed-Marriage
- Family Resisted the Nazi Party

Leon Bergman

Leon Bergman's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Forced on a Death March
- Liberated
- Lived in a Displaced Persons camp
- Lived in Multiple Concentration Camps
- Sent to Concentration Camp
- Was a Forced Laborer

Fryda Bierman

Fryda Bierman's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Liberated
- Lived in Multiple Concentration Camps
- Sent to Concentration Camp
- Was a Child During the Holocaust

Viola Bisno

Viola Bisno's Experience
- Helped Place Displaced Children in American Foster Care

Jacques Braitberg

Jacques Braitberg's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Family or Person in Hiding
- Family Survived
- Helped by the Red Cross
- Joined the French Foreign Legion
- Resisted the Nazi Party
- Was a Soldier

John Brawley

John Brawley's Experience
- Was a Soldier

Heiman Herbert Bremler

Heiman Herbert Bremler's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp

Joe Bright

Joe Bright's Experience
- Sent to Ghetto

Paula Bromberg

Paula Bromberg's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Family Died in Gas Chambers
- Liberated
- Lived in a Displaced Persons camp
- Lived in Multiple Concentration Camps
- Sent to Concentration Camp
- Sent to Ghetto
- Was a Forced Laborer
- Worked in Factory

Jutta Buder

Jutta Buder's Experience
- Family Resisted the Nazi Party

Alfred Burger

Alfred Burger's Experience
- Attended Nazi Rally
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Was a Soldier

Harry Burger

Harry Burger's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp

Harry James Cargas

Harry James Cargas' Experience
- Involved with the St. Louis Center for Holocaust Studies

Henry Changar

Henry Changar's Experience
- Concealed Jewish Identity
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Family Died in Ghetto
- Family Died of Starvation
- Lived in a Displaced Persons camp
- Lived in Warsaw Ghetto
- Sent to Concentration Camp
- Sent to Ghetto
- Worked with the Todt Organisation

Chevra Kadisha

Chevra Kadisha's Experience
- Aided Jewish Refugees
- Worked for a Jewish Organization

Alice Collin

Alice Collin's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Survived

Lore Cook

Lore Cook's Experience
- Attended Nazi Rally
- Hometown was Bombed

Marie Cori

Marie Cori's Experience
- Family or Person in Hiding
- Family Survived
- Taken to an Orphanage Run by Nuns
- Was a Child During the Holocaust

Murry Cymber

Murry Cymber's Experience
- Lived in Multiple Concentration Camps
- Sent to Concentration Camp
- Was a Forced Laborer
- Worked in Factory

Erich Dahl

Erich Dahl's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Was a Soldier

Eva Derby

Eva Derby's Experience
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Family Survived
- Liberated
- Sent to Ghetto
- Was a Child During the Holocaust

Melvin Dubinsky

Melvin Dubinsky's Experience
- Worked for a Jewish Organization

Hedy Epstein

Hedy Epstein's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Was on a Kindertransport

Inge Erhard

Inge Erhard's Experience
- Hometown was Bombed

Hans Erman

Hans Erman's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust

Helene Erman

Helene Erman's Experience
- Escaped the Holocaust
- Family Died During the Holocaust
- Family Died in Concentration Camp
- Family Survived

Paul Hugo Feldman

Paul Hugo Feldman's Experience
- Served in the Eighth Army
- Was a Soldier
Loading oral histories...