Chaim Ferster BEM
Stuart Ferster shares the Holocaust story of his father, Chaim Ferster, with us. Chaim was born 1922 into a large, orthodox Jewish family and raised in the Polish town of Sosnowiec. He was 17 in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. At the suggestion of a relative, …
Charlotte Amdurer
My mother Charlotte Amdurer, née Kohn, was born in Berndorf, Austria, in 1921. The family were patriotic Austrians who could be traced in Austria back to 1650. My grandfather and his brothers all fought for Austria in WWI. Anti-Jewish laws implemented by Hitler in Germany over five years were introduced …
Fanny Höchstetter
Ernie Hunter recounts the story of his mother, Fanny Höchstetter, and howlong-standing, friendly, Christian – Jewish relationships in the small market town of Laupheim, Germany were destroyed by the Nazis. Laupheim was mainly Catholic, with a Jewish community. The Jews enjoyed a full religious and cultural life. Jewish shops closed over the …
Helen Lewis MBE
Dance Saved My LifeDan Lewis shares the story of his grandmother, Helen Lewis MBE. Helen was born in 1916 in Trutnov, which is in the present day Czech Republic. She was born into a Jewish family that was well integrated and heavily involved in Trutnov life. By the time the Nazis fully …
Hundsdorfer Family
Anton Hundsdorfer 1902 – 1982 Sonja Hundsdorfer 1927 – Presented by Ernie Hunter [born Hundsdorfer] Ernie Hunter tells the story of his father, Anton Hundsdorfer, sister, Sonja, and his non-Jewish German family. They were victims of Nazi Persecution because they were communists and political opponents of Hitler. The story tells …
Ilse Beres
Ilse Beres was the only daughter of Rosa and Max Beres. She was born in 1924 in Vienna, where she lived until 1938. But this story starts much earlier, in 1890 when Rosa and Max, as Jews, fled their home in Ukraine to escape from the pogroms that were very …
Martin Wertheim
Martin and Ernst Wertheim were the sons of Erich Wertheim and Margarete (nee Schwabe) Wertheim. Martin was born on July 31 1929 and Ernst was born on August 23, 1923. They were raised in Brackel, Germany where their family had a corn farm and factory. Martin came to the UK on the Kindertransport in …
Tomi Komoly BEM
Tomi was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1936 and lived with his parents as an only child. His father owned a scrap metal business in the city suburbs, however, in 1939 after the introduction of anti-Jewish laws he was forced to sell it and taught himself to make decorative ceramic …
Ziggy Landschaft
Le Chayim – The miraculous survival of Ziggy Landschaft. Leah Burman tells the story of Ziggy Landschaft, her father. Ziggy was born in 1925 in a town called Chorzow, about an hour’s drive away from Cracow and near the border with Germany. He had a younger brother, Mayer, and parents, …