In July 1998 I was in the Washington D.C. area and finally had the opportunity to tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. One of the exhibits was a video featuring the remembrances of Holocaust survivors upon being liberated by the advancing Allied armies. Also included were members of the United States military that discovered the camps or otherwise helped liberate them. In the notes I took of my visit, I wrote only that the title had the word "Testimony" in it and that two of the Holocaust survivors met just after the war, fell in love, and got married.
I always wondered what the full name of the video was, and if I could see it again without traveling back to D.C. After an Internet search last month I found the name of this video and bought a DVD copy from eBay, hoping it was the same one I saw almost 18 years ago. It was. I just now put it on the IMDb.
I highly recommend this video for anyone and for all ages. The testimonies of the 20 survivors are informative, uplifting and inspirational without being too graphic or depressive. I was especially impressed by their gratitude in simply being alive, and their willingness to move ahead with their lives after the war, after having lost so much. Their testimonies humble me deeply; I am not sure I could have endured what they did.
Many of the 13 soldiers, nurses and chaplains relate their shock at coming upon the camps and realizing what had been happening. I don't want to sound jingoistic, yet their efforts to do everything they could to save lives and heal the sick, respect the dead and restore dignity to the living, make me proud to be an American.