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Oral history interview with Walter Silberstein

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1997.A.0441.69 | RG Number: RG-50.462.0069

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    Oral history interview with Walter Silberstein

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Walter Silberstein, born November 9, 1902 in Stargard, Germany (Poland), describes being the son of the only rabbi serving around Stargard; studying engineering and economics in Berlin and Leipzig; nearly completed his doctorate when his University of Leipzig professors were fired for their political views in 1933; returning to Berlin in 1934 after a brief business venture in Prague, Czech Republic; living with his parents until July 1939 when he left for Shanghai, China without a visa; his voyage on a German luxury liner and the shock of arriving in the Hongkew district of Shanghai during a cholera epidemic; the character of the native and newcomer Jewish communities and the political subdivisions of Shanghai; his parents arriving in 1940 with Japanese visas; his father serving as rabbi to the refugee community; their life after the December 1941 occupation by the Japanese; serving with other Jews, Russians, and Chinese in the Pao Chia as air-raid wardens and ghetto guards in the summer of 1945; leading a contented life between the American liberation on September 6, 1945 and the Communist takeover in 1949; leaving in 1950 with his mother and returning to Germany; living in displaced persons camps at Rhön and Föhrenwald; and arriving in the United States on October 29, 1951.
    Interviewee
    Walter Silberstein
    Date
    interview:  1981 November 09
    interview:  1981 November 17
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Gratz College Holocaust Oral History Archive

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    5 sound cassettes (60 min.).

    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 Gratz College Holocaust Oral History Archive conducted the interview with Walter Silberstein in Philadelphia, PA on November 9 & 17, 1981. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the tapes of the interview from Gratz College on September 30, 1999.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:36:19
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn508693

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