Herman Cohn

Herman Cohn was born in Essen Germany in 1921; he was the oldest brother of two and did not have an easy childhood. Herman's dad remarried a woman who lost her biological children and caused her to envy the fact that her step-children survived, so Herman and his younger brother was not loved and received extra punishment from there step-mother. Herman went to a Jewish school until high school where he went to a German High school. Herman's dad began sending money to The U.S. before Germany started laws to take away all Jewish privileges, he did not send much but enough to get started in the U.S. His Family moved to Chicago Illinois in the early 1941 and he immediately joined the U.S. army in hopes to fight the Germans in the war against Jews. Herman started in the army as a tailor and met his wife on the fourth of July. When the Germans invaded Africa every able man was turned into infantry including Herman.

            Herman traveled with the U.S. Army and saw many terrors of the war, he says “there were thousands of suits hanging, and there were thousands of gassed, shot and tortured dead bodies, a sight I should not ever forget." Herman killed a lot of the guards that were guarding the Jews, at least the ones that did not run away. He would travel with the army and kill any Nazi that he would come across. The day the war ended Herman was in Ettal Switzerland. Herman was granted a three day leave and went back to Germany and found the guy who ripped off his dad for thousands of dollars and had the British army arrest him and beat him out of a confession. Herman witnessed the war from two different angles and actually fought the Nazis with the U.S. army. After being discharged from the army Herman became a successful family man and opened up 2 businesses in America and now his children run and opened a Hallmark store. Herman ended with, " how can they say the stuff that happened, didn’t happen?" “I was beaten and witnessed many horrors of this evil time; I will always be haunted by the images."

Holocaust Survivor

Landon Gardner

Eng Comp 101-101

Mr. Neuburger

13, March 2013

Herman Cohn

            Herman Cohn was born in Ennce Germany in 1921. His mother died in child birth when she had his younger brother. His father was in the German army. On the night of broken glass his father went to help a friend and the S.S. Searched for him and when he returned home the next day the S.S were there and the beat him. A few days late the S.S. burnt down there Synagog and Herman told someone about it and the S.S found out and they brought him to their headquarters were they beat him for spreading rumors that were true. After that he and his family left Germany and went to Chicago. Once there he enlisted in the army to fight the Germans.

Landon Gardner

Eng Comp 101-101

Mr. Neuburger

13, March 2013

Joseph Morten

Joseph Morten was in Ludz Polland in 1924. He grew in a mostly Jewish community, as a kid he did not have any non Jewish friends. Since his town was mainly Jewish it was turned into a ghetto, where they lived for a couple of years, before being transported to Achwitz I believe by cattle car. No one his cattle car died however it was very crowded and just a hole in the floor to use the restroom. He was a worker in Achwitz. After they were liberated he immigrated to Canada. In Canada he meet his wife and they had a few children before they moved to the U.S. When asked why he believes he survived he says it was mere luck and God had nothing to do with it.

Holocaust Survivor Samuel Steinberg

     Holocaust Survivor Samuel Steinberg, his name back home was Sychmho SchSteinberg. Sam was born September first 1928, in a city called  Tomaucho Machiexti, near Large Poland. He was the youngest of 3 children and his parents owned a utensils and windows store. He grew up in a loving home and was well taken care of, had everything he needed as a child.

When the war started the heard the Germans were coming, many people started packing up and leaving home. Before Sam's family gotten far they were chased back to home and saw many dead Poland's in ditches. "When the Germans first came in they took over factories, they replaced all broke dark windows with new ones." He became a worker with his father and brother and lived relatively peaceful life and made just enough to provide essentials until 1940 when the Ghetto was over ran with Jewish people, and German soldiers. They found out in December 1942 that Jewish people would be moved out of the Ghetto and "that’s when the shooting happened, and would start seeing bodies pile up in the streets." At that time they were told that the Jewish people would be moved and that the workers including him would be moved to be moved to a safe place. Sam was moved into a kitchen as a worker peeling potatoes and would sneak some to his family so they could eat better. There was this soldier that took a liking to Sam and would make sure he was taken care of and fed, but would try to take advantage of him sexually. The soldier would not force it upon Samuel but did make some sexual abuse. He did not go into much detail, but you can tell it affected him. Sam then was moved into a work area breaking rocks, he would for 10 hours a day break rocks and would see dead bodies occasionally. He was not directly involved in areas of many killings but would hear about it a lot. Sam would witness the "DeatMarch, were if a worker was to fall down or even trip, the Germans would make sure they never get up again." Sam would witness a lot of killings this way.

     Sam was then moved into a farm where he was harmed and put into barns, the following day they heard the U.S. troops were here and they walked out free. At this point Sam was 17 years old and was finally safe, cleaned and fed. Sam was then told he was liberated and had nothing to worry about anymore, but he had no place to go. A man named Maurice adopted Sam moved into an apartment in Germany. After a few months Maurice heard he had a sister and wanted to find her so he went with him to Bergenbelsin and could not find her, but found a woman he fell in love with and married her. Around May of 1946 Maurice found family in the U.S. and he moved to America and then brought Sam into America months later. Sam once he got established started going back to school for half a day and worked at a factory the other half. Sam then rented out a room of a woman by the Rubenstein, and met his wife Selma. He then quit school and got a good job at a factory. He ended his interview by, " be generous and be giving, this world needs more generous people and kindness." He was hard to follow and could not remember much details about his story, so I'm sorry if this summary seems unclear in some areas, he jumped around a bit. 

Halocaust survivor

Herman Cohn was born in Essen Germany in 1921; he was the oldest brother of two and did not have an easy childhood. Herman's dad remarried a woman who lost her biological children and caused her to envy the fact that her step-children survived, so Herman and his younger brother was not loved and received extra punishment from there step-mother. Herman went to a Jewish school until high school where he went to a German High school. Herman's dad began sending money to The U.S. before Germany started laws to take away all Jewish privileges, he did not send much but enough to get started in the U.S. His Family moved to Chicago Illinois in the early 1941 and he immediately joined the U.S. army in hopes to fight the Germans in the war against Jews. Herman started in the army as a tailor and met his wife on the fourth of July. When the Germans invaded Africa every able man was turned into infantry including Herman.

            Herman traveled with the U.S. Army and saw many terrors of the war, he says “there were thousands of suits hanging, and there were thousands of gassed, shot and tortured dead bodies, a sight I should not ever forget." Herman killed a lot of the guards that were guarding the Jews, at least the ones that did not run away. He would travel with the army and kill any Nazi that he would come across. The day the war ended Herman was in Ettal Switzerland. Herman was granted a three day leave and went back to Germany and found the guy who ripped off his dad for thousands of dollars and had the British army arrest him and beat him out of a confession. Herman witnessed the war from two different angles and actually fought the Nazis with the U.S. army. After being discharged from the army Herman became a successful family man and opened up 2 businesses in America and now his children run and opened a Hallmark store. Herman ended with, " how can they say the stuff that happened, didn’t happen?" “I was beaten and witnessed many horrors of this evil time; I will always be haunted by the images."

Holocaust Survivor 2

Jessica Chapman

English 101

Mr. Neuburger

16 March 2013

Henry Laurant

Holocaust Survivor

Henry Laurant was born in Kongsburg, Germany. He had one sister that was older than he. Most of what henry recalls of being young are related to the war and anti-Semitism. He cannot recall the names of his friends except for one female friend that referred to herself as Jimmy. Henry remembers running and playing catch at the lake and the rather large apartment he lived in.  He recalls violence and discrimination in his classroom at school and being subjected to anti-Semitic classroom lectures. His father was in the medical field and had his own practice and was a Veteran of the first World War. Henry’s parents weren’t religious. So he pursued his religion through friends and eve attended a synagogue.

They moved to Berlin where Henry attended a private Jewish School. They hid with a friend while his father hid elsewhere purposefully. He went to England without his parents in understanding that it would only be temporary. By nearly the end of the war he had lost all contact with his parents. Henry later came to find that his sister had been arrested and executed while his parents died in Auschwitz. Henry continued his education after the war to try to obtain his high school certificate. Henry went to the US after obtaining his Visa and marrying and American woman.

"Who was to know that this one would not go away."

Holocaust Survivor

Jessica Chapman

English 101

Mr. Neuburger

March 16,2013

Holocaust Survivor

Malka Baron

Malka Baran was born in Warsaw, Poland.  Malka’s Aunt was the secretary at a private school so Malka was able to attend for free. The school consisted of 1^st through 6^th grade. Polish was the spoken language but Hebrew was also taught as well as Latin in the 5^th grade. Malka studied English on her own time, privately before the war. She walked to school in all weather conditions, forty minutes one way. She read poetry with her friends before school. Malka’s favorite thing to do was read, specifically novels about women becoming teachers. She loved children and wanted to be a nursery school teacher. Malka lived in a one room apartment where the living room, bedroom, and kitchen were all the same. Bathrooms were downstairs in the courtyard. She had electricity and  telephone, her father printed tickets for the movie houses so she would walk to town with him on Saturdays and attend movies for free. 

Later Warsaw was part of the ghetto, consisting of over 42000 Jews. Malka prayed every night thanking for her family and asking that they are kept safe. Her family celebrated  Passover, but were not involved in all things religious.

                When Germany invaded, Malkas school was closed and her and her family were forced into working hard labor. Her mother was the first to be executed when they were separated and forced to leave the ghetto. Her Father and brother were later killed in another work camp. Malka was sent to work in an ammunitions factory where she got very sick and was sent to get better with other people that had typhus. When that camp was liberated, Malka and some of the friends she had made decided to live on their own and one of the soldiers provided them food. Malka worked different jobs and one of those jobs was developing pictures. Malka took a train to vachchite were she would later meet her husband Morris. They were separated when she went to Israel to become a teacher and he and his family went to America. They stayed in touch with each other for six years then were married in Israel. When her immigration papers were finalized they moved to New York together were she continued her education and had two daughters.

"When i was still very sick, i didn't care if i lived or died." -Malka

Joseph Morton - testimonial

Born Joseph Markowitz on July 11th, 1924 in Lodz Poland. Joseph Morton now lives in Illinois. He grew up in a Jewish Neighborhood, and went to a public school. He had five brothers and one sister of which he was the oldest. His family lived in a small house with only one bedroom where they all slept. Also there was a living room and a kitchen. Some of his family lived on the same floor in the same building. Joseph's  father worked as a tailer.

Joseph remembers the day the Germans came and rounded up his brothers and sister and himself. He had already been as he calls it, the “bread provider” to his siblings for a while at the time. Having been the oldest the responsibility of taking care of his family fell to him.

David Abrams-testimonial

Born Abraham on December 8th, 1928 in Romania, David Abrams now lives in New York. He was only 15 when the nazis loaded him up on a freight train along with his family and many others. David’s opening statement, or speech rather, was quite eye opening. I have never heard a direct testimony from someone who actually experienced the holocaust. Of course I knew that it was terrible, everyone does. However to see the anguish it brings to the faces of survivors from just speaking about it really gives me a new perspective. David’s earliest memories are of he and his family eating dinner around their table with his brothers and sisters. His mother died just a few days after he was born. His father remarried soon after. David thought fondly of his father’s new wife as his mother. In fact, he didn’t know otherwise until he was about nine or ten. 

One thing I learned is that the crimes against the Jews started very subtly with rules like not being able to hire gentiles and not being able to go the the market until ten o’clock so the gentiles could have their pick first. I thought this was interesting because I see that happening to us today. 

David was able to leave Oschwits by mere luck. He was loaded up on a train along with others again, except this time they were only allowed to occupy one half of the car and the other half was occupied by German guards and soldiers. After another train ride david arrived in Mothausen. It was a hot day when he arrived and they weren’t allowed any water. They went through processing similar to what they went through at Oschwits which consisted of stripping, inspection, and shaving. David spent about a year at his work camp until the end of the war. 

David recalls trying to keep a sense of humor and praying every chance he had. 

Summary for holocaust survivor interveiws

Summary for the Malka Baran interview

Malka Baran was born Malka Klin in Warsaw Poland in 1927. She grew up in a small apartment with a living room, bedroom, and a kitchen with her mother, father, and little brother. Her father owned and operated a small print shop that was in the same apartment buiding her family lived in.

             Life was normal for Malka’s family until 1939. They lived in a non-kosher home although Malka and her brother went to a private Jewish school for children where they learned Hebrew, ( I’m assuming she meant Yiddish). Being non- kosher, her family wasn’t particularly religious, however Malka says she has always maintained a personal and private relationship with God.

            After German occupation of Poland, the family tried to live a normal life, but the private Jewish school was closed. The Nazi’s eventually took over her father’s print shop and sent him off to work in exchange for food coupons. In 1943, the Nazi’s came and forced them out of their apartment. Malka was separated from her family and heard later that her parents were shot in the back trying to run away. She never heard from or about her brother again. Malka was sent to a labor camp in March of 1943 until January of 1945.      

            After liberation, Malka went to work in a kitchen that served the Russian Army. Soldiers from the Russian Army actually helped her and showed her the first human kindness since before the labor camp. She finally ended up in a displaced persons camp in Austria that was housing people waiting to go to the newly formed Israel. Malka met her future husband at this camp. In the camp, she taught children which was good for Malka because she loved teaching and children.

She left Austria in 1948 and went to Israel for a time. Eventually, she got married and moved to New York City where she received a college degree. Malka and her husband finally moved to Pittsburg Pa. where her husband had family.

Summary for Herman Cohn interview

            Herman Cohn was born on September 8, 1921 in Essen Germany. Herman’s mother died in childbirth when Herman was only five. Herman was the oldest of two children and eventually, his father remarried and had other children with Herman’s step mom. Herman says his step mom didn’t treat him of his brother very well. He doesn’t claim to have been abused, but thinks his step mom was probably bitter about him and his brother being the children of another woman.

            Herman’s father was a very patriotic German who served in the German Army and Air-Corp. Herman says his father was mildly religious who always put his country over his religion. He ran a very successful furniture store for a time and then a successful linen shop. Herman says they were well off with a governess, a chauffer, and a maid. When the Nazi’s came to power, Herman’s father wasn’t even worried. A few times when they heard people yelling anti-semetic banter out of their window, his father would just say it would pass. His father had seen political movements in Germany come and go and thought the Nazi’s would just die out after a while.

             Herman was worried about society though. He noticed that none of his gentile friends were playing with him and his brother any longer. His step brother died of natural causes at age 5, so Herman was going through a lot of changes at this time. His parents also pulled him out of public school and sent him to be an apprentice to be a taylor. By the mid 1930’s, things had

gotten bad enough for Herman’s family and their neighborhood, the family decided to move to the United States.

            The Nazi’s eventually burned down the synagog in town and being in a neighborhood with lots of social democrats and even communists, the Nazi’s were probably extra tough on that area. They eventually started managing his fathers business and according to Herman, they were running it into the ground and stealing money.

             The family all had applied for visa’s and were on a waiting list to go to Holland. After a lot of hardship in Germany under Nazi control, they finally made it out and eventually made it to the United States where they moved to Chicago where they had family. Herman says everyone in his family had a hard time assimilating in the United States except for him. Herman was mad and even joined the United States Army so he could go fight the Nazi’s and everything they stood for.

Holocaust survivor testimonies

Holocaust Survivor Testimonies Edith Colivar & Joseph Morten Edith Colivar was born July 26, 1922, in Karlsruhe, Baden. Her family was German Jewish and had lived in Germany for more generations than anyone could remember. As a child she took summer vacations in Holland and winter vacations in Switzerland, as her father was a banker. She did not witness the horrors of the Holocaust first hand because her family moved to New York in June of 1938. The majority of her involvement was acting as an interpreter for Nazi trials in the United States. However, she did have immediate family (two aunts and an uncle) and at least one childhood friend who died in concentration camps. She qualified for the job because she held a degree from Berkley and also had a few months experience with the state senator. There was one defendant in particular that stuck out in her mind, Lord Lawrence. He was rude towards everyone, but she asked him to autograph a picture for her. He was later hanged. The majority of her memories revolve around the different defendants and how the vast majority of them denied their charges. During the interview, she seemed to have a mild case of survivor’s guilt because she kept saying how embarrassed she was about various things that were outside her control. She was eventually married and had children. About the denial at the trials, she said: “I trusted people more who said ‘I was powerless.’ Because what Hitler did, from the very beginning, is to cut off the opposition.” She didn’t believe or trust the people who claimed ignorance, but she did believe the ones who admitted they simply could not stand up to Hitler. About Nazi control she simply said: “When you have the power to move things, you have the power to move them to the better or to the worse.” Joseph Morten was born July 11, 1924 in Lodz, Poland. His experience was more direct than Edith’s because his family spent most of the 20’s and 30’s in ghettos and work camps. When they started rounding up Jews in his town, his youngest brother Jacob (4) was in the local hospital with an unusually high fever. His father and he went to rescue him and they managed to sneak out without being noticed. Their family hid with friends and other Jewish families for several months. They were eventually captured and loaded onto a cattle train for transport. There was no food or water for the several days the trip took, except for a small piece of bread that someone had hidden in their pocket. After arriving, they did manual labor in horrible conditions and were barely fed enough to stay alive. Joseph, his brother and his father were separated from his mother when they transferred to another camp, and they never saw her again. The last camp they were moved to was the Auswich work camp, and the conditions there were even worse than elsewhere. Joseph spent most of his days carrying bags of cement to a construction area and praying for clean water. His brother became sick and was was kept aside with the other sick workers. When Joseph became ill as well, he searched for his brother but discovered he had died. The camp was liberated while Joseph was still ill and could hardly move due to malnutrition. In 1948, Joseph moved to Canada and eventually married and had children. He said his experience made him appreciate how precious life was, but he doesn’t think it affected the way he raised his children. He never spoke about the incidents unless asked. He applied for restitution and received monthly payments. When the interviewer asked if Joseph was aware of anyone ever escaping he said: “there was no escape.” “I would have to crawl on my feet and my hands to the dripping, running water,” he said about the only source of water for bathing and drinking for the entire camp.

Summary of The Testimony of Alfred Caro

Jonny Woods

Mr. Neuburger

ENG Comp 101-101

18 March 2013

The Account of Holocaust Survivor Alfred Caro

            Alfred Caro’s story starts well before WW2 in Berlin 1911, and he describes himself and his family as what we would consider today a very middle class kind of family. His father interestingly enough, served in the German army in WW1 well before the Nazi’s came into power. He was a decorated soldier, and because of this, Alfred’s family was a very patriotic group of people. Alfred mentions that there were often times that the German national anthem (or what constituted as one) was often sung in his house, along with other German songs.

After the War, Alfred’s father opened up a little butcher shop, and did very honest work, trying to make a living to support what we would consider a large family unit. Alfred had two brothers, and three sisters.

            As a young man, Alfred describes what young people did for recreation, hobbies, dancing, and chasing the girls. It was his plan during this time, that once he was old enough he would go and work with his father in the butcher store and continue the family business.

            When the war was approaching, Alfred describes an extreme change in how the Jews were being treated. So extreme, that they weren’t even allowed to sit in park benches, because it was against the law. He speaks of the Nazi’s going around and accusing law abiding Jew with all kinds of false allegations, so that they could arrest them and put them in the occupation camps. When the Nazi’s came looking for Alfred specifically, he hid from them for days until he was afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t turn himself in, because he was afraid that if he didn’t they would take another member of the family in his stead.

            After being held at the police station in Berlin like he was a criminal, truck’s arrived to transport him and the other Jews that they had charge with trumped up allegations to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. Life in the camp was a terrifying thing, with the Nazi’s killing people indiscriminately, beating them, and treating them less than you would treat animals going to the slaughter.

            Alfred explains how very lucky he was to have only been in the concentration camp for six to seven weeks when he was released. The reason for his release was the his mother contacted one of Alfred’s old friends when he was a child named Schmitt, who now worked for a branch of police that could investigate as to whether Alfred had been wrongly convicted. Alfred does not truly know whether this was the reason for his release from the concentration camp, but he strongly believes that it was the catalyst if not one of the major factors in association to his freedom. I think that since Alfred was only in the concentration camp a very small time that it was the major contributing point to his surviving the Holocaust. 
            I would attribute a consequence to Alfred's survival was perhaps a religious one, he states that he does believe in God, but he does not believe in the Orthodox Jewish faith. If things had happened differently, and the Holocaust never happened, I have to wonder if his viewpoint in this would be a different one.

           

            “I would say the goal in life was to grow up in a big town, and that you have every day like Hollywood. You want to grow up, and you want to have fun, and had to work, and make a little bit of money, and have a good time. Like all young people everywhere in the whole world. There are no different. But then, when the bad time came it changed, the separation changed completely (Caro, 1997).

            “God in heaven, life in the camp…  You had nothing. If you had your life, then you were lucky, when you were not lucky, you were dead. Maybe the people who are dead were luckier than the ones were alive (Caro, 1997).”

               

Joseph Morton testimony

Joseph Morton was born in Lodz Poland. His family all lived in the same room but it was decent size with several beds, some were shared. When he heard about the Hitler’s rise to power it started with hearing from his parents of the harm that was done to the Jew’s. He also had an aunt that had a sister who lived in Berlin who were kicked out of Germany and were forced to come back to Lodz Poland. She wanted to go back and she did but she was sent back to Poland. They were able to live in their same apartment. There wasn’t any specified jobs in the ghettos. He heard that they were taking children from the hospital and throwing them out of the windows and into a truck. He was separated from his mother and some cousins. A US soldier liberated him but he was so sick he could hardly register it. Some consequences he would suffer would be that he would have to live on without his mother and he would never want to go back to his hometown. He later moved to Canada with his brother. Later they moved to the United States and met up with his father there. When they moved to Canada the Jewish federation fed them and helped to support them while they were there and tried to get used to it. They also taught him to be a cutter in the sewing industry where now he cuts hair. They only stayed in Canada for about a year and continued to live in Chicago with his father. His cousin went back to Poland to live.

 

“They would go as far as the Jewish area and stopped right there. If they went any further in they would get punished.”

“Being in the ghetto the starvation was very tremendous.”

Survival Testimonial 2

Alfred Caro was born July 27,1911 in Samter,Germany the oldest boy in a family of three girls and three boys. His father owned a butcher shop and his mother was a homemaker.He moved to Berlin as a young boy and attended public school,in that time we didn't know the difference in a Gentile and a Jew. His father was one hundred percent German and had fought for Germany in World War 1 receiving several medals.As a young man he was very interested in sports,but went to school to be a butcher and became a masterpiece in cooking.Remembering when Nuremberg laws went into effect and the tremendous changes that followed,everyone looking at each other different now. There was a political investigation going on at this time and one male from each family was required to go in for questioning.He decided that he would go and after being held in a large room with several other Jewish men, none of whom understood why they were being held was transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.The living arrangements were horrible,sleeping on the floor,only water in the morning,watery soup for lunch and bread at night.The German officers brutally beating prisoners and tricking them intentionally just to shoot them.When he did not return home his mother went to police headquarters asking questions and ran into an old childhood friend of Albert's.He recognized her and agreed to help her.Albert was soon released from the camp and sent back to Berlin to the police prison where his mother picked him up.He then contacted the Hicem organization and they helped get him a visa.His entire family took him to the train station to tell him goodbye as if they knew this would be the last time he saw them. He spent two weeks in Belgium,and another two weeks in Paris, but found it hard to communicate only speaking German.South America had began taking immigrants and he was put on a ship to Columbia with about five hundred other people mostly Jews.He first worked in a goldmine and later worked in a restaurant.During this time the Red Cross was trying to locate living family members and two of his sisters contacted him only to tell him the rest of his family had been transported and believed to be dead.Soon after he decided to go to New York to live with his sister.That is where he met a widow woman from Alabama that was vacationing with her child.They were married,he moved to Alabama and worked in a small country store she owned.Later he opened a restaurant called the Annistonian,the motto being Often imitated, but never duplicated.Knowing that he was one of the luckiest ones being in the first groups to leave Germany he often wonders why his life was spared. "I never will forgive and I never will forget" "I cannot say in many words how you feel to say goodbye to people, what terrible"

The darkhaired interpreter

Edith Coliver was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on July 26, 1922.  She was the oldest of three children – Hans was born next in 1928 and Ernest Robert was born last in 1929.  Her family was one of middle calss and this would eventually be of benefit to Edith.  She and her best friend, Gertrud Marx, were in an “upscale gang,” who would climb trees and on top of roof.  She mentioned her father several times throughout the video, and states that she quoted him so much that her friends and coworkers would comment “we know what your father would say;” after she would begin a conversation with “my father would always say.”

Her family lived in a secure and modest neighborhood in a three story home.  Edith’s family lived on the bottom floor and her favorite gym teacher lived on the top floor.  She remembers the first year that “The Stormer” was dropped from the sky, and how her upset her favorite gym teacher was to read the things that the Germans were saying about the Jews.  The second time they dropped the pamphlets she remembers him coming to her father and asking why no one had stood up for themselves.  She recalls him stating that “there must be some truth to it since no one is doing anything about it.”  The third and final time she states that she did not seem him again and that she prayed that he had not put on the uniform of a SS soldier.

She states that she was a normal kid and did all the things that normal kids did.  Edith attended public school until about the ninth or tenth grade when a teacher risked coming to Edith’s home to tell her mother that she should pull Edith out of school because she was not allowed to give Edith the grades that she deserved.  It was at this time that Edith moved to London.  About one year later Edith’s father called her and told her that she needed to come home.  Of course Edith argued with him, she was having the time of her life.  He demanded that she come home immediately and so she gave in and came home. ‘Thank GOD she listened to him or she may not have been here to give this interview.  When Edith got home her father took her to the consulate to get a Visa for travel to America and because of her age she was allowed to go on her father’s Visa.  She recalls ‘that the waiting list at this time for a Visa was about 10 years.  As so goes the boat ride to American.  She remembers waiting outside on the deck of the boat all night long because she wanted to be the first to see the Statue of Liberty.  Because of the determination, that later proved to be her greatest quality, she was.

Edith had an idea in her head that Americans were bullies and only cared about Americans, when all of the sudden the first thing she see in a protest.  Edith recalls seeing many Americans marching and chanting “down with Hitler” and “Chamberlain must go.”  Her nerves began to calm and she realized that she might be a good place.  Their next stop was California.  When they pulled into port on October 31, 1938, customs agents began to search their things.  Not maliciously but normal protocol, and they came across her accordion.  The agents asked “what is this, and do you plan to sell it?”  Edith claims the accordion and says "no, I am not going to sell it I am going to play it.  They asked her to prove it and she did so by playing “god Bless American and bringing tears to the eyes of the customs agents and her maternal family that had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Edith and her family.  Edith attends and graduated George Washington High School and the normalcy that she felt in Germany was now gone.  While her classmates were excited about the up and coming ceremonies and dances she found herself unable to relate and could only think of her friends and family back home in Germany.  Edith states that when she and her family returned to Germany in 1945, the friendly atmosphere that she once felt was no gone as everyone wondered what everyone had been up to.  Edith also states that maybe there was an air of guilt for surviving when so many did not. 

Edith attended Berkley and studied political science with Phi Theta Kappa honors and eventually went to work as a translator during the Nuremburg trials.  When she told her parents that she was going to Nuremburg for the trails they were extremely angry.  Her father did write her and told her to “not forget that you are a Jew.”  I could only take this as he wanted to make sure that the people who did this would pay at any cost, even with the possibility of her lying about something they said.  That advice is what gave her the strength to do what is right and get through all the tragedies that she would hear during the trials.

Time Magazine nicknames her the “dark haired interpreter whose voice quivered.”  She states that her voice did not quiver because she was shy, but because she was scared to death.  She recalls that there were 21 defendants in all, but the most memorable was Herman Goering.  He was Hitler’s wing man who claimed that although he was against the “final solution” he did nothing to stop it.  He admitted his guilt, and follows that with the statement that he was not guilty of what he was accused.  When he was found guilty he requested the “honor” of being shot like a true soldier would be.  The bench did not allow him this “honor” and sentenced him to death by hanging.  What happens next is something that can and will forever be questioned as to how it happened.  While the prosecution and the translator team waited the confirmation that he was dead, in walks a guard that was pale and caused much concern.  The concern was, because of the look on his face, that the bench had recalled the death sentence and decided that Goering should go free.  However this could not have been further from the truth.  Goering had committed suicide.  Theories as to how this happened are many but one seems to make the most sense.  The theory is that Goering hid a cyanide pill in his lotion and upon hearing the verdict requested some of his personal belongings, including his lotion and swallowed the hidden pill.

Edith did eventually find happiness and peace and was married to a wonderful man named Norman for 31 wonderful years until his passing

"I Loved my father very much."
"I need to blow my nose."  (that one was at a tape change and I thought that it was cute)

daniel hamilton's survivor testimony 2

Arie Van Mansum by eliaszdad

daniel hamiltons testimony summary

Alfred Caro by eliaszdad

Survival Testimonies- Holocaust (x2)

Haiden Bowman

Mr. Neuburger

COM 101-101

17 March 2013

Edith Coliver

The first Netflix video I watched was an interview with Edith Coliver. Edit was seventy-seven years old when the interview took place in San Francisco, California. The day a gentleman named Joseph interviewed Edith was August 26^th, 1999. Edith was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on July 26, 1922. Her immediate family consisted of two brothers, her mother and father. Her brother’s names were Harold and Ernest.  Harold was born in 1928 and Ernest was born in 1929. She was the oldest of the three children. Her mother’s name was Hedwig. Her father’s name was Fritz Simon.

Edith Coliver had a best friend growing up who she was separated from. Her best friends name was Gertrude Mars and she lived on the same street as Edith Coliver’s family. Edith mentions memories where she and Gertrude played together in the streets with Gertrude’s older sister. They played and biked in a nearby forest and pulled many pranks together. In 1938 Edith’s family left and when she returned in 1946 she received the news that Gertrude had died in an extermination camp.

Edith describes her childhood home as a large house. It was a three story house and the gym teacher lived on the very top floor. She described her family as a family that would have been in the middle class. They weren’t rich, they weren’t poor, but they were doing well on their own.

Edith had to sit through trials that focused on extermination camps. She knew of some of the practices, but she heard of a few new ways. She heard of bodies being covered in pits after killed. Like everyone else, Edith was in denial. Edith describes the smell of the camps as awful. You could smell the blood. I enjoyed watching this interview with Joseph and Edith because she vividly described what the holocaust time era was like. (Coliver)

Malka Klin Baran

                Malka Klin Baran was interviewed by Shulemit B on January 6^th, 1997 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. At the time of the interview Malka was seventy years old. Her birthday was January 30^th, 1937 and was born in the middle of Warsaw, Poland. Her mother’s family was originally from Warsaw.

                Malka lived in a small one bedroom apartment where her father owned a print shop. She describes their home as one room with a living room and kitchen. They didn’t have any electricity. Malka describes her family as lower middle class.  Malka had a younger brother who she didn’t speak much of. When Malka was fifteen she liked reading, riding bikes, playing outside and walking to the city with her father. She attended a private school and notes that her mother’s sister was a secretary at the school and that’s how they were able to attend.

                The German soldiers figured it be okay to live normal lives in a negative direction. They ordered people to wear scarbes on their arms. All of Malka’s fathers machinery for the print shop was taken away and her father was sent away to work for the Germans. She was sent to work with girls to clean in the ghettos.  She earned coupons for food. Ghetto was established in 1941. Children couldn’t play outside after certain hours. When she worked in the ghetto she was about fourteen years old. Everyone hoped that it would end with the Germans, but at that point it was nowhere near an end. The Germans sent people out of town to work at different places.

                Malka said it was the worst part of the holocaust when she was fourteen. Her brother was killed in 1943. Her father and mother woke her up when it was still dark. They quietly put layers of clothes on. Her father gave her mother gold coins. Moments after the Germans busted down their front door and pulled them all to the streets where everyone was placed on one side or the other. At that point they were placed in lines of five. Molly, a worker of Malka’s fathers, was separated. She was taken away to a factory of metal. Malka was kept in a small ghetto while her father and brother were working for the railroad. One day they didn’t come back. She was told they were shot in the back. Malka tells us that after that she had a bad memory block. I enjoyed learning about Malka and her family because she is definitely an inspirational person. (Baran)

 

Works Cited

 

Baran, M. K. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved 03 10, 2013, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwp5wg6y-MU&list=PLBDFF7484119FCCAE&index=13

Coliver, E. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved 03 10, 2013, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EjTU4iIII&list=PLBDFF7484119FCCAE&index=1

 

 

 

Joseph Morton testimony

Joseph Morton, formerly Joseph Mortkwitz, was born on July 11 1924 in Poland. His fathers’ name was Chalsl. His grandparents’ names were Moshizama and Hanamalca. He was moved to the ghetto before the Germans constructed the concrete and wire walls to surround it. There were a lot of problems with disease and starvation and Jews being removed to go to camps. In order to get food, they all had to work just to get rations and even then they could stand in line for a whole day just to get food. There were no specific jobs but everyone had to do something. Some Jews were involved with manufacturing German military uniforms and shoes, and some worked with bringing in the food rations. The ghettos’ border was guarded by the Germans; however there were Jewish police inside as well. While he was in Auschwitz he was given a chance to leave in order to do extra work outside of the camp. They were transported by cattle car to a working camp in Germany from Auschwitz to do the extra work they volunteered for.

When the Allies advancing forces were close enough, they were sent on a death march to a new camp further inland. Before they began the march, the Germans inspected every Jew to see who was still strong enough to walk. Those who were too weak or sick stayed behind and were killed. When the allied forces liberated his camp, they took them to one of their hospitals nearby. Even though he was starving when he was liberated, there was no way he could eat right away. His chances of survival were very small, however his survival can be due in part to volunteer work and luck. If he hadn’t volunteered to do extra work at a working camp, he may have died with everyone else.

“We were Jews from every part of Europe.”

“The moment came when we got liberated, when the American Army came, I couldn’t see who was who because my eyes would not stay open.”