Austrian States: Vienna

Charlotte Bamberger was born as Charlotte Hammerschlag in Vienna in 1904. She went to the Schwarzwald School. She began playing the violin at eight years old and studied at the k. k. Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst (Imperial Academy for Music and the Performing Arts) from 1918 to 1925. In 1936, became a viola player in the Palestinian Symphony Orchestra and emigrated to Palestine. She was unable to return to Vienna due to the “Anschluss”, instead following her husband to the USA where she pursued a successful career as a musician. She lived in New York at the time of the interview.

Georg Berlstein was born in Vienna in 1929 and grew up in the 4th district. He left in March 1939 on one of the Kindertransports to Great Britain. His mother followed him to England and his father was initially interned on the Isle of Man. At the end of 1940 the family succeeded in emigrating to the USA, where Berlstein continued his education and studied at Yale University. After completing three years of service in the U.S. Air Force, including a tour in Korea, he worked as an attorney. At the time of his interview Berlstein lived in New York.

Herbert Blankstein was born in Vienna in 1925 and grew up in the 9th district. In December 1938 he fled with his mother to Brussels. His stepfather was deported to Southern France in 1941 and later to Auschwitz. In Belgium, Blankstein worked in the armaments industry and was protected from deportation due to his knowledge of German. Blankstein married in Brussels and emigrated to Palestine in 1948 together with his mother, wife and son. He worked as a goldsmith. Blankstein lived in Tel Aviv at the time of his interview.

Lotte Boneh was born Lotte Ramler in 1919 in Vienna and lived with her family in the 2nd district, where she went to high school. After the “Anschluss” in 1938 she was able to finish high school. Boneh’s sister had emigrated to Palestine years earlier and was able to get her a certificate with which she fled to Palestine. Their parents followed them, their brother fled to England. In Palestine, Boneh joined Haganah. At the time of her interview she lived in Israel.

Felicia Breitner was born in the 16th distict of Vienna in 1921. At the time of the Anschluss she was still in high school. Her brother and her father were able to flee to Shanghai, while she was able to escape to England in 1939 to join her sister who had already fled. Her mother stayed behind and died in Vienna. Many of her family did not survive the Holocaust. Breitner trained as a nurse and a midwife, working afterwards in healthcare. She later emigrated from England to Israel, where she lives today.

George Czuczka was born in Vienna in 1925. He lived with his parents in Karl-Marx-Hof, where he experienced the bombardment of the building during the February Uprising in 1934. After the Anschluss, Czuczka’s father was imprisoned for several months in Dachau and Buchenwald. The family fled to the US after his release in March 1939. Czuczka would return to Europe as a soldier in the US Army and later served in Germany, Austria and India for the US Foreign Service. He lived in Washington, D.C. at the time of his interview. 

Edith Dreyfuss was born Edith Zinner in Vienna in 1930. After the November Pogrom (“Kristallnacht”) her father was sent to a forced labour camp; Dreyfuss and her mother were evicted from their apartment and forced into a group apartment. In 1941, the family was deported to the Riga Ghetto, where her father was murdered. Dreyfuss and her mother were sent to the Riga-Kaiserwald Concentration Camp and were forced labourers. During a march to Poland in 1944 they were liberated by the Red Army. Dreyfuss returned to Vienna, but later emigrated to the US in 1947. At the time of her interview, she lived in New Jersey.

Peter Elmer was born in Vienna as Peter Epstein in 1923 and grew up in Vienna’s 13th district, where he went to primary school. At the end of 1937 he was sent to a boarding school in England and stayed there until his family emigrated at the end of 1938. They then fled to the USA via Switzerland and London, arriving in New York in January 1939. Elmer visited a private school and then the University of Wisconsin for a short time before military service with the US Army in Europe. He was later active in the textile industry in New York City where he continues to live today.

John Fischer was born as Hans Fischer in 1909 in Vienna, where he lived in the 20th district and worked in a metalware factory. He was arrested during a visit to the dentist and imprisoned in the Rossauer Barracks, the Gestapo jail on Karajangasse and then in the Landesgericht. After his release he fled with his wife first to France and from there to the USA in February 1940. After his military service he worked as a salesman. At the time of the interview, Fischer lived in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Edith Friedlander was born in Vienna in 1922 as Edith Käufler. After the Anschluss she emigrated with her parents to Prague. She arrived in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1942 with her mother, from where they were deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Friedlander's mother was murdered there. Friedlander was sent to the Oederan concentration camp supcamp near Chemnitz. After the war Friedlander lived in Prague before deciding to emigrate to the USA in 1947. At the time of the interview she lived in New York City.

Joan Frome was born in Vienna in 1923 as Johanna Schwarz, where she lived with her family in the 7th district. After the Anschluss, she left high school after being beaten up by a fellow pupil. In September 1939, Frome fled unaccompanied to the USA via Belgium. Her father - a veteran of World War One - died in 1939 as a result of the injuries he sustained during the war, her mother was murdered in Auschwitz. At the time of the interview, Frome was living in New York.

Emanuel Fuchs was born in 1918 in Vienna and lived with his family in the 2nd district, where he went to school and his father owned a bookbinders. After the Anschluss, Fuchs was imprisoned and was brought to the “Notarrest” (temporary jail) in Kenyongasse. He was later sent to Dachau Concentration Camp, where he was imprisoned for several weeks until he returned to Vienna and was forced to leave the country. Fuchs was able to emigrate with a friend to the USA via Germany, Amsterdam and Belgium. After serving in the US Army, Fuchs settled in New York and worked as a jeweler.

Catriel Fuchs was born in the Burgenland in 1925, but moved to Vienna with his family when he was a child. In Vienna, he lived for a long period in an orphanage and visited elementary school. After he was excluded from school in 1938, he became a member of a zionist youth organization and with their help was able to flee to Palestine over Yugoslavia. After a period living in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, Fuchs enlisted in the Royal Navy. He later worked for a large container shipping company, a job that took him as far away as Taiwan. Fuchs now lives in Israel.

Kurt Goldberger was born in Vienna in 1925 and grew up in the 1st district. After the Anschluss in 1938, the Goldberg family was forced to leave their apartment. Goldberger escaped on a Kindertransport to Great Britain, where his mother had fled to a couple of months earlier. They emigrated to the USA in April 1944 where they were reunited with his father who had fled there previously. Goldberger worked for B’nai Brith for 21 years, campaigning for minority rights. At the time of the interview, Goldberger lived in New York.

Trude Goldblatt was born in Vienna in 1927 as Trude Deutsch and lived in Vienna’s 7th district. After the November Pogrom (“Kristallnacht”) in 1938 her family had to move into a "Sammelwohnung". Together with her twin brother, Goldblatt was able to flee to Great Britain on a Kindertransport in 1939. There she lived with a Christian family and trained to be a nurse. While visiting her sister in Israel she decided to stay there. She started a family and worked as a midwife and a librarian. At the time of her interview Goldblatt was living in Tel Aviv. 

Trudy Jeremias was born Trude Epstein in 1925 and grew up and went to school in Vienna’s 13th district. She emigrated to the USA with her parents and her brother Peter in December 1938 via Switzerland and London. After working as a ground stewardess and in several other jobs, Jeremias became a jewelry designer like her mother, who was a well-known interior designer and artist. She returned to Vienna for a short period in the late 1950s before returning to New York, where she lives today.