An Unbroken Chain - Part Eight

11/05/07 • 20 min

Chapters 9, 10, 11: This episode deals with four more links in the events that helped Henry Oertelt survive the Nazi Holocaust. Henry’s optimism and profession as a fine furniture designer helped him survive. He was now sent to another death camp, Flossenburg in Bavaria. The camp was horribly overcrowded and daily beatings of prisoners was the norm. Henry’s brother Kurt is sent to a different camp, which was devastating, but also led to another link that helped him live. He needed medical help.

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An Unbroken Chain - Part Seven

Chapter 7 and 8: Henry’s ability to work certainly helped save his life. His slight stature and youth also contributed. The brothers are sent to yet another concentration camp, Golleschau. You hear about the value and heartache of just one piece of bread, and Henry’s new job to create a custom desk, under the watchful eye of an SS Guard. Henry begins to have alarming health problems.

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An Unbroken Chain - Part Nine

Chapters 12, 13, 14: Henry puts his life in the hands of an SS Doctor. He describes the harrowing ordeal of surgery - and the conditions of "recovery". A non-Jewish political prisoner befriends Henry and saves him from another death camp. For the first time they hear the bombings from the front lines. Hope for freedom begins, it’s April 16, 1945.