Living History with Helmut Wolff

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza presented an interview with German native Helmut Wolff, who photographed the Kennedy motorcade from the corner of Harwood and Live Oak Streets in downtown Dallas. This program was moderated by Curator Stephen Fagin. This presentation took place at the Museum on May 13, 2019, as a Living History distance learning educational program for Lanesville High School in Lanesville, Indiana.
To see related films, photos, documents and oral histories from The Sixth Floor Museum's collection, visit our online collections database (emuseum.jfk.org). Or make a research appointment to explore the books, DVDs and other materials available in the Museum's Reading Room (www.jfk.org/reading-room).

[@samgoforth8501]

RIP Helmut "Hal" Wolff 1928-2020 A great friend and confidant.

[@MrShinebone]

Thank you Mr Fagin for your marvelous historical interviews. I cannot imagine anyone on the planet that could do a better job than you.

[@dustinkfc6633]

MrShinebone I agree! Were you in the audience?

[@MrShinebone]

No I was not there but living in Dallas now.

[@leebest1a470]

Excellent interview. So glad Mr. Wolff was able to take those marvelous photos and provide us and history with his experiences.

[@gtoger]

I'm very proud to call Mr. Wolff a friend.

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Hey from Rodney Martin wrecker service 💓 love gtr video keep up drumbeats 🥁 😎❤️💐

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Love those drum beats ❤️😉😈

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Loveing those drumbeats 🥁 😎 2020❤️♥️

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Hello from Rodney Martin from Martin wrecker service 💓💗 family

[@BosssyBear]

Me too!

[@txsuzyq5655]

Great to see you Mr. Wolff! This is so interesting. Thank you for doing it.

[@williamchapman2966]

Wonderful rendition of the events of the era, the historicity of such being lost as those who experienced those days pass on into eternity. Helmut Wolff has made a highly commendable and accurate contribution with his exceptional photographs and description of the unfolding of the ominous assassination of John F. Kennedy.

[@muirisoconchuir3738]

Fascinating interview, man, his photographs, history. RIP Mr Wolff.

[@leenicoll4371]

Excellent interviewer Mr Fagin. Knowledgeable and respectful.

[@keithashley6298]

I would like to thank Stephen Fagin for all of these Living History films and bringing all the people who were around at the time of the assassination, it is very much appreciated.

[@kevinmcleod7580]

Nice to see he does have a story to tell .

[@dr.willyvan2116]

Highly Informative . keep them coming Six floor museum

[@jeanette8943]

Wonderful interview.

[@lynnmitzy1643]

Wow , thank you , Chris from gtoger for suggesting this. 🤗

[@davidcouch6514]

Visualising Augustus Gloop showing up to Grammar School lol. Remarkable Photographer and great interview.

[@TreeFreak]

I was stationed in Darmstadt.

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Love those 🥁 drumbeats 🥁 😎❤️ on gtr video keep them comeing on those videos

[@Jay-vr9ir]

Trivial as it may be , the newsreel cars were 1964 Chevy Impala Super Sports , the cars were only a few weeks old .

[@hannahllewellyn163]

Good job on this video ♥️ JFK wow loveing those old photos pichures from back then black white this is neat

[@winstonsmith3070]

If you want a laugh... Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner") literally translated to "I am a "Jelly Donut." (A "Berliner" was the name of a Jelly Donut). Akin to going to Copenhagen and saying: "I am a Danish."

[@bobtaylor170]

That's a myth.

[@Curtfj]

No Mr. Wolff, we can't see any of what your describing because for some reason they keep the camera on you and the other guy talking...

[@jude999]

I used a camera like that in 1988. Its not that ancient. Should have held photo shots longer rather than the talking heads. White House press banner on period photo shows red letters, yet the museum's has black letters? I hope the museum got his camera.

[@doolittlegeorge]

"Did you own a television? Can you explain to the average Today American what it meant to be caught up in the World of Television?" I mean seriously this is an absolute and total affront to the idea of History. Sad, absurd, ridiculous, just straight up *not taking us there* to the actual event.

[@sandrasanders706]

In 1963, television was still kind of a new thing. At that time, news and information was still in radio. The three networks news organizations were not taken seriously, maybe. But with the JFK assassination, TV news took over as the primary source for news. The reality of JFK'S death and other events had to be reported and shared by screen and seen in order to tell the story. TV can be greatly used and terribly abused. It's history. Can't choose how and where history happens.

[@leemoore9933]

Riding around in an open car you knew it was just a matter of time.

[@bobtaylor170]

No, not in the America of 1963. A lot of people were apprehensive about Kennedy's going to Dallas - I, at 11, was one of them - but no one seriously thought anything would happen. Do you think he would have been in an open limousine otherwise?

[@sandrasanders706]

​@bobtaylor170 Thank you!

[@spirg]

He was marked, he had to die, if not in Dallas, somewhere eventually, what people don’t wanna accept, is that he had some very powerful enemies….Right here in the U.S.