Hy Wakstein papers
Scope and Contents
Hy Wakstein was a Jewish American serviceman who reached the rank of Staff Sergeant with the 778th Anti-Aircraft-Automatic Weapons Battalion, Self Propelled, (served 1943-46) and discusses his experiences as an Army communications officer in the European theater of World War II in this oral history transcript. Wakstein participated in the Battle of the Bulge, and his division advanced further east into Germany than any other American division.
Dates
- Created: 1943-1946
- Other: Date acquired: 07/11/2001
Creator
- Wakstein, Hy, 1922-2013 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to all researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Biographical or Historical Information
Hy Wakstein was born in 1922. He was drafted in February 1943 as a Jewish American serviceman from New Jersey. He trained at Camp Haan, California as a Communications (Radio Operations) Officer for the 778th Anti-Aircraft-Automatic Weapons Battalion, Self Propelled (778th AAA-AW [BN] SP). His unit served in the 3rd Army under General George S. Patton which fought through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. They were sent to save the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions that were surrounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and ended the war in Dresden, Germany. There, Mr. Wakstein met some Russian soldiers. He went to "American University" in Shrivenham, England for a college semester of coursework, while he was still a part of his unit (they kept daily radio communications) while they were stationed in Munich, Germany as a part of the Army of Occupation. He shipped back home in March 1946 out of Bremerhaven, Germany, and was sent off by General Dwight Eisenhower. He also participated in the liberation of concentration camps like Buchenwald and interrogated some of the German officers in charge there. His unit shot down between 22 to 55 German planes during the war. Hy Wakstein passed away in 2013.
Extent
1 folders
Language of Materials
English
Custodial History
Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.
Source of Acquisition
Hy Wakstein
Method of Acquisition
Donation
- Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp) Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Concentration camps--Germany Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : U.S. Zone). Office of Military Government
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish soldiers--United States Subject Source: Local sources
- United States. Army
- United States. Army Ground Forces Subject Source: Lcnaf
- United States. Army--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Army--Military life Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Army. Airborne Division, 101st
- United States. Army. Airborne Division, 82nd
- United States. Army. Army, 3rd Subject Source: Local sources
- United States. Army. European Theater of Operations
- World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Belgium Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Luxembourg Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Western Front Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--France Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany--Dresden Subject Source: Local sources
- World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Hy Wakstein papers
- Author
- Craig Whittington
- Date
- 02/20/2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Repository
116 Honors Way
PO Box 3062047
Tallahassee FL 32306-2047 US
850-644-3271
lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu