Bertha Beitner

"There is always hope for the future. Educate your children. I take my grandchildren to the Zekelman Holocaust Center and my grandson went on a trip with Camp Ramah to Auschwitz."

Name at birth

Bertha Meryn

Date of birth

06/06/1927

Where were you born?

Beuthen, Germany

Where did you grow up?

Beuthen, Germany

Name of father, occupation

Yitzchak, Merchant

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Leah Shajer, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, three brothers, Moritz, Joseph, Max, and me

Who survived the Holocaust?

My brother Joseph and me

Name of Ghetto(s)

Czeladz / Poland

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Oderberg / Peterswaldau

What DP Camp were you after the war?

Ainring, Displaced Persons Camp (DP). We stayed in the DP camp for quite a while. My husband worked for UNRRA and later in Munich he worked for the Joint Distribution Committee.

When did you come to the United States?

1949

Where did you settle?

Detroit, Michigan

How is it that you came to Michigan?

In 1949 we came to Detroit where my husband had an uncle, Abram Beitner. We met Emma and Moshe Schaver in Germany in the DP camp who knew my husband’s uncle in Detroit. Mr. Schaver owned Central Overall Supply and helped get my husband. He moved up to plant manager. My husband learned English in Europe after the war while working for UNRAA and the Joint.

Occupation after the war

Seamstress for Central Overall until my children were born

When and where were you married?

1949, Ainring DP camp in Germany.

Spouse

Jacob Beitner, Plant manager, Central Overall

Children

Linda Dagan and Norman Beitner

Grandchildren

Seven: Ronit, Eitan, Oren, Aaron, David, Jonathan, and Jennie. Five great grandchildren: Alon, Zohar, Jacob, Rose, Yakov

What do you think helped you to survive?

My youth, I was able to do a lot of work, luck, and my will to survive.