- Jan 2017
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collections.ushmm.org collections.ushmm.org
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the headmistress of my pre-school -- I was, of course, in pre-school--who was a real Protestant type, a Vermont Protestant type, but a real Prussian Protestant type, said no, that I must stay till I have finished my duty after school, you see. So, the result of that is -- no, I mean she was a wonderful woman, she got into – Fraeulein Koeppen was her name, she got into prison eventually because she refused to teach “Mein Kampf”, but she refused to teach “Mein Kampf” in German class, because it was bad German, not because we -- you know, it was bad German. It is bad German, yeah, so she was a real -- as you call it, a real -- you know, a real type, as it were.
The story of his headmistress, Fraeulein Koeppen.
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I’m a bully by nature
It is interesting to me that he admits that. Most people wouldn't say that outright, or even acknowledge it to themselves, but he just goes ahead and says it. He seems to be very understanding of who he is and where he came from.
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your character was built.
According to Wikipedia, he puts emphasis on it building character in his other interviews.
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So I learned French first, and English then.
How many languages did he learn through his life? He knew German as a child living in Germany, but also learned French and English through his maids. He studied history, where knowing other languages is an enormous help. So, how many did he learn through his life?
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10
Age when going to boarding school.
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Hilda
Important to remember - He only calls her "my sister" from here on.
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characterize
Mosse seems to have difficulty with this term. The definition is roughly "Identify via details." It may simply be a result of him being put off by not having English as a first language, but with the interview being 50 years after first encountering it, I doubt that. Another cause may be that, being familiar with so many languages, a contradiction in meaning between them may make a concrete answer pertaining to characterization difficult.
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