Rudolf Leiser
Name at birth
Rudolf Leiser
Date of birth
04/04/1914
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Breslau Germany
Name of father, occupation
Sigfried Leiser,
Tailor
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Rosa Wolff,
Homemaker, (killed in Auschwitz)
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and seven children: Walter, Edith, Arthur, Gertrude, Wilhelm (Willi), Paula, Karl; nephew Hans Roesler, son of Edith
How many in entire extended family?
Approximately 15
Who survived the Holocaust?
Rudolf, Arthur, Walter (stayed in Germany after the war)
Rudolf could see what was happening to him and his family around him. He was in a program to learn farming in order to immigrate to Palestine. This program was discontinued by Hitler.
My father then left Germany with a friend for Czechoslovakia. When there, he was supposed to register but he didn't have a passport. So they returned to Germany; they were caught at the border.
My father was arrested and imprisoned for approximately four months. The Gestapo gave his mother a choice of sending him to Shanghai, China or to a concentration camp.
The choice was Shanghai. His mother stayed in Germany, thinking it would not get so bad.
This was before Kristallnacht. After Kristallnacht, there probably would not have been a choice.
Other siblings tried to leave Germany after Kristallnacht, but were caught in Holland and sent to their deaths.
He left Germany in September, 1938 for Shanghai.
Where did you go after being liberated?
In 1947, to Montevideo, Uruguay via San Francisco
When did you come to the United States?
1948
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
Rudolf was sponsored by Karl Bach. There was a choice of coming to St. Louis or Detroit. Rudolf had an aunt, uncle, and cousin residing in Detroit, so Detroit was chosen.
Occupation after the war
Barber
When and where were you married?
1953, Toledo Ohio
Spouse
Bessie Leiser
Children
Rosalind Leiser
What do you think helped you to survive?
I am surmising that it was hoping to be reunited with his family as well as the new and lifelong friendships that he made in Shanghai.
Interviewer:
Biography given by Rudolf Leiser’s daughter, Roz Leiser
Interview date:
09/30/2014
Experiences
Survivor's map
