Nina Ebb papers

Nina Ebb (formerly Zdenka Goldscheiderová, 1923-2015) was born to Fredo and Emma Goldscheider in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, where her parents owned and operated a wholesale grocery store. Emma, originally from Sudetenland, had grown up helping her widowed mother run a business and became a partner in husband’s business venture. In addition to owning the store, Fredo also served as an officer in the Chamber of Commerce and a lay judge in the district courts. As a child, Nina grew up with a younger brother, Hanus (1928-1944), attended school and took lessons in piano, gymnastics, and several languages. Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Fredo was briefly arrested by the Gestapo, though with the help of friends, Emma secured his bail. Shortly thereafter, the family store was expropriated and Nina’s father was sent to work in the clay mines. At this time, Nina was banned from continuing her education, though she continued to study at home and taught five children. In February 1942, the family was sent to Theresienstadt. Once in Theresienstadt, Nina worked in the Zentralevidenz-Familienkarte (the Central Registry) until her liberation in 1945. Emma meanwhile, headed the Raumwirtschaft - Ubikationskanzlei (Housing Section), first in Hamburger Kaserne barracks for women, and then in the Dresdner barracks for the elderly. Fredo and Hanus also worked in Theresienstadt, but both were deported to Auschwitz in October 1944. Fredo was gassed and Hanus later died in Kaufering, a sub-camp of Dachau. After the war, Nina and Emma returned to Plzeň and were given jobs in their former grocery store, which had been transferred from German to Czech management. Nina later got a job as a secretary with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), until 1946 when she and Emma immigrated to the United States. Nina later married Stanley Ebb and settled in Newton, Massachusetts, where she taught languages. She had two children.