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Oral history interview with Ilse Kaye, Robert Kaye, and Helga Franks

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1989.346.18 | RG Number: RG-50.031.0018

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    Oral history interview with Ilse Kaye, Robert Kaye, and Helga Franks

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Ilse Kaye (née Hoffman), born in 1921 in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), describes her family history; being raised in a liberal Jewish family; Hitler raising to power in the 1930s and the effects on her family; experiencing Nazi rhetoric at her school; working with a dentist friend of the family after she left a Jewish school in 1937; attending school to learn dental mechanics; her father being pressured to give up his business; her family’s attempts to leave the country; being shocked by Kristallnacht; her father’s arrest and deportation to Buchenwald; going with her family to Shanghai, China; and her speculations on the reasons behind the violence of Kristallnacht.

    Robert Kaye, born in 1911 in Vienna, Austria, describes his family history; experiencing some antisemitism; the Anschluss; and the impact Kristallnacht and being sent to Buchenwald had on him.

    Helga Franks, born in 1926 in Berlin, Germany, describes her family history; her vivid memories of April 1, 1933, including the boycotts and the German troopers chasing potential customers away from Jewish stores; attending school; the popular rabbi, Manfred Swarsensky; her family’s religious observations during the High Holidays; enrolling in a private Jewish school in 1937 when she was no longer allowed at the public school; her family’s attempts to immigrate to Sweden; her father deciding they would stay in Germany; the events on Kristallnacht, including the burning of synagogues; getting visas for France soon after Kristallnacht; learning how to handle crises; surviving in Paris with her mother and her father’s death from a heart attack; and her emotional reactions to visiting Germany in 1966.
    Interviewee
    Helga Franks
    Robert Kaye
    Ilse Kaye
    Date
    undated: 
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    1 videocassette (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois (now Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center) conducted the interview with Ilse Kaye, Robert Kaye, and Helga Franks. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History branch received the tape of the interview from the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois on December 12, 1989.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:07:04
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn507450

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