Portrait of Eli Fachler.
Overview
- Caption
- Portrait of Eli Fachler.
- Date
-
1927
- Locale
- Berlin, [Berlin] Germany
- Variant Locale
- Berlin-Buckow
Berlin-Mariendorf
Berlin-Ploetzensee
Berlin-Reinickendorf
Berlin-Tempelhof
Berlin-Wannsee
Berlin-Schlachtensee
Berlin-Duppel - Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Miriam Litke
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Miriam Litke
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Miriam Fachler was born in Berlin on February 12, 1927 to parents Tehilla Milechmann (b. 1898 in Ilza, Poland) and David Meyer Fachler (b. 1899, Lodz, Poland). David had moved to Berlin on his own after WWI, and had his own textile business where he dealt mostly with knitted goods. Miriam had one older brother, Eli, born October 27, 1923 in Berlin. She attended the Madchen Shule de Judische Gemeinde on Augustrasse in Berlin, and her brother went to Adas Yisroel.
In 1933 David was forced to close his business, and had to travel more in order to market his textiles. By 1938, changes in the political climate in Germany spurred the family to make plans to protect the children. Tehilla registered Miriam for a kindertansport. Eli, then sixteen years old, registered to go on Hachshara with Youth Aliya to England, and in May he was sent to Whittingame, Scotland, where he remained for a few years. In August, German officials announced that residence permits for non-German citizens would be cancelled and David, who had never acquired German citizenship, was deported to the Polish border town of Zbaszyn. In his absence Tehilla desperately sought visas that would allow them to immigrate, but was not able to acquire them. Eventually, David was allowed to return to Berlin, under the condition that he would liquidate his business and leave the country. After settling his affairs, David, Tehilla, and Miriam went to Lodz, David’s city of birth.
In August of 1939, Miriam received word that her visa to enter England had been granted, but that she would first have to return to Berlin, where she had registered through the Jewish day school. She left two weeks before the start of the war, and had to wait ten days in an orphanage until her transport was ready. After first arriving in London, Miriam was settled in a hostel on Willesden Lane. For the first year, she was able to stay in contact with her parents, who had been forced into the Lodz ghetto, through letters forwarded by the Red Cross and by cousins in Belgium. Then the letters stopped.
When the bombing of London began, she was evacuated to the town of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, where other local children had been sent as well. There, the children were matched with foster families who had agreed to host them. Miriam and her close friend Inge Joskovitz went to stay with Alice and Bert Overhead, who had one teenage son at home and another in the army. The girls helped with household chores, but were also able to attend school, where they excelled. Miriam was able to write to her brother, Eli, but they were not able to see each other for two years. Eli married the daughter of a refugee family living in Letchworth, and later joined the Royal Fusiliers. In 1944, after living with the Overhead family for five years, Miriam moved in with Eli’s in-laws. She learned after that war that her parents had been deported to Auschwitz around 1942, where they perished.
In 1947, Miriam met her future husband, Joel Litke. Joel was a native of Kassel, Germany. He had been a student of the Rav Schneider Yeshiva in Frankfurt, and also come to London on a kindertransport. In spite of the circumstances of his arrival, he was classified as an enemy alien and in 1940 was sent to an internment camp on the Isle of Man. Later, he was transported to New Brunswick, Canada to chop trees with Nazi prisoners of war. While there he and other Jewish internees were assisted by the local Jewish community, who brought them kosher food and books to read. After the war’s end, Rabbi Pryce helped them to settle in Toronto. On a summer vacation, Joel traveled to London to visit his brother, and it was there that he met Miriam. They were married in 1948, with the Overhead family in attendance. Joel and Miriam settled in Canada, then moved to Detroit, and later to Oakland, California. In 1959, they made Aliyah to Israel. They had three children, eighteen grandchildren, over fifty great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. Rabbi Joel passed away in 2016. Miriam continues to share her story for future generations.
- Record last modified:
- 2019-03-01 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1185091
