Sti perspective of a person who has studied decisionmaking in the white house. And a valuable member of really making the Network Connections and the interviews that are the underlying factor and underlying base of this project work. Will, i thank you for that, and i turn the mic over to you. [ applause ] all right. Thank you very much, jeff. Im honored to be moderating this panel here with four very dear friends and valued colleagues. There is a concern afoot that as a moderator i might let it go to my head and try to interject myself too much in the discussion. So ill be sitting down there while they make their presentations and come back up here during q and a time. You have the detailed bios of each of the speakers so i wont repeat those. First here is professor richard immerman. His bio says he recently retired from temple university. And that may be technically correct. I know richard well, richard does not know the meaning of the word retirement. Were Close Friends on the state
Accurately trace my military odyssey, ive drawn from four sources one, my memory, two, my discharge papers, three, letters i sent to my parents when i was in europe, and, fortunately, my mother had saved my letters, and number four, regimental and battalion history of the 317th regiment at second battalion that had been declassified. A neighbor of mine who was an expert in terms of accessing the internet did the research for me. Lets back up for a minute. You said you are from brooklyn, new york . Did you were you raised and grew up in brooklyn . Harold the first 11 years of my life, i spent in brooklyn. Then my father retired and we spent time in a town called monticello. That is where you went to school . Harold that is where i went to junior high and high school. It is in my notes as i go along here. Do you have any brothers or sisters . Harold one brother who is deceased. I came from a small town called monticello at the foothill of the catskill mountains. Monticello was approximat
I want to talk about that. As i tried to communicate last week, the drafting of our institution, the history of its formation is extraordinary to say the least. It is remarkable moment in all of world history. We are here at 233 years later and our constitution is in the news daily, being referred to as we almost speak here tonight, again and again. One particular aspect, but it is alive and well. To think about the fact this came together from a period of midmay until midseptember of 1787 is remarkable. We recall that we said the revolutionary war, and a lot of folks are not clear on the sequencing. It is important to note conflict began with lexington and concord and massachusetts in 1774. These very independent colonies, all british colonies that operated with their own governments and their own leadership, and so forth, suddenly had to come together and form a military alliance. It was not easy for them to do that. They had a lot of hesitation and concern about what it meant to be
World war ii. Scholars talk about the many ways people engage and learn about the holocaust on the internet. The we pa Lepage Center hosts the event. The previously United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Historian Daniel Greene gave us a tour of the exhibit he curated americans and the holocaust. Part one focused on the 1930s. In part two, we learn about the America First movement and how the United States responded to nazi persecution and murder of jews as some of the atrocities became public knowledge. This is about 45 minutes. In 1939, on september 1, germany invades poland. World war ii breaks out that week. Whats on americans minds in 1939 is staying out of war. You see in this section of the exhibition deep concern in the United States about spies, about nazi spies in the United States. At the time, called a fifth column. Americans are asked by gallop, do you believe germany started to organize a fifth column of spies . 71 of americans say yes. You see this fear of spies played
Patton. Next, he recalls his experiences fighting in the battle of the bulge and helping to liberate the buchenwald concentration camp. The National World War Ii Museum conducted this interview in 2014 for its oral history collection. It is may 29, 2014, in wellington, florida. What is your name . My name is harold berkman. 26, 1926n on february in brooklyn new york. Ive been a resident of florida since 1985. Im 88 years old and in order to accurately trace my military odyssey, ive drawn from four too,es one, my memory, my discharge papers, three, letters i sent to my parents when i was in europe, and, fortunately, my mother had saved four,ters, and number regimental and battalion history regiment at second battalion that had been declassified. A neighbor of mine who was an expert in terms of accessing the internet did the research for me. Lets back up for a minute. You said you are from brooklyn, new york . Did you were you raised and grew up in brooklyn . Harold the first 11 years of