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Oral history interview with Gerda Blachmann Wilchfort

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1989.A.0325 | RG Number: RG-50.030.0251

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    Oral history interview with Gerda Blachmann Wilchfort

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Gerda Blachmann Wilchfort, born on April 24, 1923 in Wrocław, Poland, describes her family and childhood; experiencing antisemitism and losing friends after Hitler came to power; her memories of the destruction of Kristallnacht; a cousin in Cuba attaining visas for her and her parents to immigrate to Havana, Cuba; booking a passage on the St. Louis and being forced to return to Europe after Cuba and the United States would not accept the ship; arriving in Antwerp, Belgium and signing papers that said they would not work and would accept their status as a refugee; living off a small budget from the United Jewish Appeal; crossing the Belgium border into France by foot but not finding a much better living situation; discovering a castle in the French countryside in which to stay for a few nights; returning to Belgium and moving back into their old apartment building, where they stayed for a couple of years; becoming a seamstress to make some money for her family; joining an underground group with her mother and crossing into France and then Switzerland; finding an apartment building in which to live; discovering that Hitler had died and that the war was coming to an end; and immigrating to the United States to create a new life for herself and her family.
    Interviewee
    Gerta B. Wilchfort
    Interviewer
    Linda G. Kuzmack
    Date
    interview:  1989 July 03
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Genre/Form
    Oral histories.
    Extent
    2 videocassettes (U-Matic) : sound, color ; 3/4 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
    Linda Kuzmack, on behalf of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History Branch, conducted the oral history interview with Gerda Blachmann Wilchfort on July 3, 1989.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:01:37
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn504738

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