Liberator Lester Stricoff Testimony | USC Shoah Foundation

[@acfeinman]

Thank you for posting this. Lester was my granduncle and devoted the last decades of his life to making sure this story of man's atrocities would not be forgotten.

[@chummiescatcat8696]

Alex Feinm.

[@suzanneanderson6921]

What a beautiful man.

[@sherryfelch750]

Alex Feinman ty and especially ty for your uncles service to our great nation and for liberating the victims of hitler

[@elysiabella2219]

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW! MEN OF HONOR!!!!!!!

[@hankochai]

How proud you must be.

[@hollykacz1958]

This is the best video of the Shoah Foundation, having a person who liberated Dachau during World War II. I appreciate your time Lester for sharing your experience. Your testimony will hopefully ensure that this never happens again.

[@jawarider]

Thank You for producing this video of Lester Stricoff. My father, Bob Bitting, was in the same company as Lester. 12th Armored Division 714th Tank Battalion A company. In fact, my father is in the group picture on top of the tank on the upper left corner. My father never told my sister and I anything about his experience during the war. I can only assume he did not want to relive those memories. I have met three surviving members of A company and talk weekly with the driver of the tank who was directly behind Sgt. Barnes when he was hit. These men will always be my heroes. Thank You again for posting this video.

[@lorry2763]

Another hero liberating people from the depths of hell. He is appreciated.

[@in_vino_veritas7938]

I really really like Lester. Thank you so much for sharing with us

[@debbiet5430]

If you have a hard time hearing any of these videos run them thru a blue tooth speaker, cast on your TV or listen thru your car speakers. Its the best way I have found to turn up the volume. Thank you for sharing your story.

[@claudiaperfetti7694]

I really admire this man and the way he bahaved being so very young, such a privilege to hear his testimony and see his beautiful family. Thanks for posting this.

[@kidmack1121]

I love the WAY this generation tells you things. They provide both the background as well as the foreground. I could listen for hours and hours, which I did on many an occasion.

[@acs3451]

totally agree with you..and the tone they use...its just amazing how well they tell the story

[@hankochai]

I so agree. Very straightforward and clear.

[@southerncross86]

The father of Mr. Lester was an outstanding man, helping out so many, caring for all, same as was Lester himself.hats off to these hard working men. His face was lightened when he spoke about the bakery of his father. It is a demanding job.

[@johnforeman634]

Wow this guy is awesome! What an incredible experience he went through.

[@rhonda6791]

I’ve been studying the Nazis for a long time, amazingly there are always things that shock. These testimonies are so important and Lester’s testimony was special because of his humanity and his goodness. What a warm and lovely man.

[@lorry2763]

Me too. I thought I had heard it all... Not even close! Liberator interviews are enlightening.

[@rhonda6791]

@@lorry2763 Enlightening but really depressing.

[@lcj8206]

Thank you for sharing your story.

[@14fiori]

Thank you for sharing this testimony. The interviewer is unbelievable. He constantly interrupts Mr. Stricoff.

[@nichole8609]

I listened to this interview over three days. Riveting. The one thing that stuck out the most was when Lester said that his troop was ten miles from the concentration camp when they began to smell the rotting corpses. With the amount of footage and photographs that were taken of the camps, I'm utterly shocked how anyone could think that this didn't happen.

[@lydiax55]

interviewer interrupting too much, just let this man tell his story

[@kerrynatter2195]

Thank you for your service sir

[@mariekatherine5238]

I saw Schindler’s List in a movie theatre in Rego Park, Queens. When it was over, there was simply stunned silence. Nobody so much as moved. After about 10 minutes, you heard some soft murmuring and muffled crying. Then everyone filed out, row by row in complete silence.

[@paperchain1239]

OMG I saw the film in England when it came out. The Exact same thing happened at the cinema we went to. Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧.

[@tinasmith770]

i knew NOTHING about the war or the Holocaust....im sure learning now...we were not taught this in Catholic school at all...wasnt till i went to a public highschool,that i knew any of this existed....

[@mariekatherine5238]

@@tinasmith770 When did you attend Catholic school and for which grades? It’s not the type of thing you show to little kids. I also went to Catholic school in the 1950’s up through grade eight in 1959. I knew Hitler had murdered huge numbers of Jewish people and it was a horrific thing, but my knowledge was from my parents whose knowledge was from my father in the US Navy. The Nuremberg Trials were in progress at the time I was a pupil, and published photos were still fairly limited. As for films, they were evidence, not released to the public. Also, at least in the early 1950’s, not everyone had a television set so news didn’t carry quite as fast. I learned a little in high school, but it wasn’t a set part of the curriculum like it is now. If you wish to learn more, listen to the many lengthy interviews with Holocaust survivors available on KZbin from the Holocaust Museum. They were done mainly in the 1990’s, just in time because most of those people passed on in the early 2000’s. Have patience in watching because the 1990’s technology wasn’t like today. They had video tapes made with camcorders. When the tape ran out, you had to rewind it, remove it, and set up another. These are definitely worthy of a listen. In fact, there’s loads of WWII footage and documentaries all over the internet, plus as many books. It’s up to individuals to educate themselves. If all you learn is what was covered in high school, it’s actually dangerous to a free society.

[@elizabethsee7774]

Amazing man. Thank you.

[@susiedownes1980]

How these normal man were so brave and did the things they had to do .amazing man god bless you ❤

[@MistressTargaryen]

Thank you for posting this. In amazing human being

[@lewisner]

I really wish the volume was louder on these videos. I am watching it max volume on my phone and it is barely audible.

[@estherkroub5908]

Heart of gold ! His sensitivity and humanity shines through.an angel liberator !

[@charlesparrish2831]

God bless this man and his awesome service to keep America free!🙏🇺🇸

[@rowan655]

Thank you for your testimony Sir.

[@louisemoore7715]

A hero of humanity...A huge example for everyone!

[@hankochai]

Every time I see an interview with a Jewish immigrant or child of Jewish immigrants I think “Thank God they left before the Nazis.” What a wonderful man this is. Salt of the earth. I didn’t mind the interviewer - I actually liked that he asked very detailed questions.

[@courierdog1941]

This same interviewer is just not knowable or sympathetic with the people he was interviewing he disrupted the interview rather than contributed. Through all the gruesome details your life humour still comes through. The insensitive interviewer asked questions that betrayed his profession he had a perverted sense of reality that asked absurd questions which did not relate to reality to what Lester witnessed. The fact Lester still has his faith is a real testament.

[@russellcrowell5857]

the interviewer sounds like a lawyer, 3:27 let the man tell his stories

[@jerovan123]

fantastic interview, got tears in my eyes

[@lucy8468]

I really enjoyed his testamony. His insights about life, His feelings about God. His honesty says a lot about him as a man. I am priviledged & will never forget. 01/04/1923 3:27:23

[@judyfudge2458]

All these WW2 vets must be gone by now. I just buried my dad who turned 18 in November 1945 and joined the Marines. He was 93,

[@charlesparrish2831]

This man was truly touched and affected by what he saw being done to his own Jewish race of people.God bless him,RIP,and thank him for his service🙏🙏🙏

[@ruthmachain8544]

The interviewer kept interrupting in the middle of recollections. Might have been better to just let him finish a thought.

[@sashek8451]

good god he was driving me batty

[@suenoble64]

Good interview.thank you

[@sashek8451]

the interviewee was great. The interviewer was god awful and kept interrupting

[@alwatson4352]

You went back to the crematory questions six times, six times! Did you need a picture?

[@sashek8451]

seriously right!?

[@abptlm123]

What is the book about Dachau that he mentions around 3:05:00 - 3:10:00 ?

[@acfeinman]

He put together photocopies of photos and other ephemera. I have a copy somewhere. Haunting stuff, rooms full of discarded bits of people's lives.

[@patd.5692]

I want to request that the actual date of these recordings were posted. Thank you.

[@thesimulation9651]

At the very beginning it says this interview took place November 25th 1997 in cedarhurst

[@nilgiridreaming]

Great detail - good report from this wonderful man.

[@zap265]

2:21 he was talking about DDT

[@sonnyalexander3872]

RIP on Mar 31, 2010

[@chrisherz6631]

Sound volume insufficient.

[@claudiaperfetti7694]

I'm so glad one out of so many I've heard that gives thanks to God for being alive! At leasr he acknowledges that we all breathe because of his upholding the Universe. But when asked why would a God allow rhis suffering, he doesn't say a word about sin, snd man's responsibility!

[@hollykacz1958]

One wonders how God could have let this happen. God is supposed to be so powerful and he could’ve stopped the Nazis but He did not do anything and eventually the war was won but think of the millions of people who were killed, tortured, and starved when it could’ve been stopped before it started. This is definitely a fight of good versus evil and in this case evil won.

[@alvarobinson7463]

the interviewer is a nut why would they ask the people there what they was doing before if they was Stacy dying it doesn't make any sense

[@marciaschwartz9750]

G-d bless Thank you 🥵❤️❤️❤️

[@jacquelinevandermade8428]

💓

[@hikari2706]

I wish that this person didn’t interrupt so much.

[@sashek8451]

god he was driving me nuts..let him finish his train of thought ughhhh

[@jobethk588]

Interview protocol: sfi.usc.edu/collecting

[@binkytube]

He sounds like Joe Pesci.

[@sashek8451]

His grandmother had 21 children!? 😱😱😱

[@valerie9352]

Why does this interviewer sound so rude to me. Man wanted to get up to answer door and interviewer says no we’re going to keep rolling.

[@Mike-01234]

Tank crews had a rough time Sherman tanks were light armor when facing the Panther, or Tiger tank, and gasoline fueled instead of diesel lot of men got killed in those death traps

[@abptlm123]

Not true. ~3% of all tankers deployed by the US in WWII were killed. ~18% for the US Infantry. An American tanker had an ~80% survival chance if your tank was hit due to the better design and easier access/escape of the Sherman tank.

[@Mike-01234]

@@abptlm123 Then why was it nicknamed the Ronson. As I said against the Tiger Sherman was no match against the older German Panther it fared better.

[@abptlm123]

@@Mike-01234 watch this lecture for all the answers.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqisnaV3pNiMn68

[@F_Tim1961]

Lester is an amazing interviewee but Rosenberg is useless. He is so obtuse that Lester is a bit hard of hearing and speaks too softly and too quickly and after seeing that Lester was asking for repetitions he did not change his style. A couple of comments. It is interesting how the Army put him through ASTP and trained him as a radio operator yet put him into one of the dumbest jobs in the tank - a loader . I guess that was because of the enormous sponge of men the invasion and breakout from France was. Perhaps too it was intended that all tanks have VHF radios but it did not work out that way. The other thing is the Star of David story in Nancy seems a bit strange. If the boy was tattooed it suggests he had been in a death camp already. If so and the allies had just arrived in Nancy then how /when had he escaped ? It is possible that he had been in Nazweiller camp, which is not too far from Nancy. You see, in the French holding camps they did not tattoo prior to transportation. And if the US army is already in Nancy, then why continue to wear the Juif sign ? The story sounds more likely something that happened in Germany. Lester is pretty old and I 'd say the recollection is confused.

[@F_Tim1961]

@vrnc M I think that Rosenberg is what you might call in US speak a Minority Hire... :-) But this is all volunteer stuff so perhaps I should not twist the knife so much.

[@kathystark6762]

@@F_Tim1961 Maybe Rosenberg asked questions that had already been asked earlier because, as I noticed, Lester contradicted himself at least a few times.

[@sashek8451]

It was DDT powder they dusted the survivors with. It wasn’t known the dangers of DDT at the time.

[@anne-marienordin7636]

The guy who talks with this man is not good

[@lcj8206]

The interviewer is a disgrace!!!!!

[@paperchain1239]

Absolutely agree.

[@dianayount2122]

he is getting historical information. he is not a professional entertainer.

[@sashek8451]

I get the historical information part but so many of his questions were so extraneous 😵‍💫 how much time did you spend in the men’s barracks? he started talking about the women’s barracks and how they were worse, he interrupts with a question of so how long were you in the men’s barracks? Long enough that he gave you a description of it!? wth Earlier in the interview he started to tell a story about an encounter with a women, the guy interrupts and never comes back to it

[@karenembury6467]

There is Jewish and then there is is Israel

[@cm1642]

1997 technology seems so primitive...

[@ritamedina-molina8550]

There were Russians in the camps..gypsies even Germans.

[@ritamedina-molina8550]

A pity they never interviewed the people from the English concentration camps where woman children and old men were kept.hat off to the British....

[@ritamedina-molina8550]

Not all of the Germans knew about the camps please.

[@chrismorgan2800]

This guy is conducting a historical interview, not a therapy session. He askes questions that he wants answered and steers the conversation toward what will be the most beneficial to those watching it in the future.