Goldie Abt
"G-d let me live, he gave me the years that my brothers should have lived. People should watch out that a Hitler shouldn’t come to the United States. It’s important that survivors tell their story because only they can provide the whole story of what happened."
Name at birth
Golda Seidner
Date of birth
04/18/1911
Where did you grow up?
Hamburg, Germany
Name of father, occupation
Aaron Seidner,
Owned a tobacco shop
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Rosa Felsen,
Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, Hermann, Friedrich, me, and Bernard
Who survived the Holocaust?
My brother Friedrich, and my sister-in-law Eva a Christian and me
In 1935, my father died of a heart attack in my arms. I had a strong Jewish identity and could not take what was going on. just before Kristallnacht, 7,000 jews of Polish extraction were deported from Germany to Poland; about 8,000 remained in a forced labor camp in Zbasyn, for as long as eight to nine months. This included my mother and I, my brothers Hermann and Bernhard. We were eventually allowed to return to Hamburg to get our affairs in order to leave Germany, preferably within a month.
I left in December, 1939 after World War II began, for Genoa, Italy and then to New York. I escaped with the help of the Italian jewish underground. I came with a transport of 500 refugees to the United States.
My older brother Hermann and his wife Eva were deported to the Warsaw ghetto; Hermann died there while Eva, a Christian, survived. My mother and younger brother Bernhard were sent to Auschwitz to their deaths. My brother Friedrich had left for the US in 1936, and with our cousin Louis Thau, provided the affidavit for me to join them in New York. Friedrich’s wife Erna (my best friend) and their young son, Werner, remained in Germany and were eventually murdered in Auschwitz.
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Where did you go after being liberated?
New York
When did you come to the United States?
1939
Occupation after the war
Dressmaker
When and where were you married?
New York
Spouse
Herbert,
Paint and brush salesman in Germany and the US, wanted to be a lawyer; however, he was not permitted to study in Germany.
Children
Roslyn Abt Schindler, professor of German and Holocaust Studies, she has published a memoir entitled (Re)vision of a Life: My Mother’s Holocaust Story (2009).
Grandchildren
Four: Neal, Daniel, Lore, and Inge. One great-grandchild: Jonathan
What do you think helped you to survive?
I was young and strong. I remember a priest telling me that if I ever reached the United States, to tell them what was going on. I said I would.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
G-d let me live, he gave me the years that my brothers should have lived. People should watch out that a Hitler shouldn’t come to the United States. It’s important that survivors tell their story because only they can provide the whole story of what happened.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
04/04/2011
Experiences
Survivor's map
