"My father had four siblings. His sister Helene lived in Hirschaid near Bamberg. Her husband Karl Heumann died very young. In 1938 her son Gerhard Heumann came to England with a child transport. Helene, who later remarried, fell victim to the Nazis together with her husband.
My father's other sister is Paula Götz, whose grave is on the Jewish cemetery in Schleusingen. She died very young.
The oldest sister Lieselotte Götz was married to Sigmund Reiser. They lived in Halle an der Saale and emigrated to London via Reichenberg in Czechoslovakia. Their son Ernst worked in Schleusingen for a short time as an articled clerk in the court. Ernst and his wife Tonka were both in concentration camps. They were liberated by the Russians at the end of the war. He could not enjoy freedom for long, he died in Prague. His wife emigrated to Israel. Her daughter Paula and her husband fell victim to the Nazis.
Now to my father's last sister, Emma Plant, née Götz, who lived in Reichensachsen near Eschwege. A son named Fritz went to Argentina, the other children Lotte, Gustav and Ruth emigrated to Palestine.
My blessed mother Sara (Selma) Götz, née Zeilberger originally came from Ermershausen near Heldburg. Her brother Leopold died with his wife Sophie and a son in Poland. Two children live in New York.
A sister Ida Gutmann lived in Niederwerrn near Schweinfurt. She came with her husband Selli via Shanghai, where they were during the war, to the USA, where their two sons Bernhard and Max already lived. A daughter Ilse came via England, where she drove with a child transport to the USA.
The oldest sister Lea Sachsendorfer, née Zeilberger, emigrated with her family to the USA.
The youngest sister Rosa Herman lived with her husband Julius in Reckendorf near Bamberg, they also went to the USA.
They asked me why my parents did not emigrate immediately after witnessing all the riots against the Jews in Germany.
When the Nazis came to power, my father was already 53 years old, my mother 43. My brother Gustav had been in Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps since 1937 and they had the hope that we could all leave Germany together. Gustav was only released in 1940, after he got the guarantee from relatives, and he immediately went to the USA.
I still remember my blessed father trying to settle in Australia, Argentina, Palestine and America. Most countries were only interested in people with financial means who knew the languages.
In Schleusingen we were forced to sell our house and stables at an extremely cheap price. It was very difficult for my parents with 6 children to find refuge.
There was no justice in Germany at that time. The press, the court, education, theatre... were all occupied by Nazis and their followers - many of whom were there - and citizens with different opinions first threatened them and then, if they did not take part, arrested them. This dictatorship had its informers in the church, where the priest mostly preached Nazi propaganda. Most people liked uniforms, flags and playing chapels.
As far as I can remember, my brother Gustav had some friends, Harry Lang was one of them. My brother was very interested in sports. He was a skier and visited Oberhof, where the competitions took place. He also belonged to the riding club and was quite good with our Hanoverian horse at the hurdle jump. One time he had ridden a horse from Coburg to Schleusingen.
We also had a beautiful garden with vegetables, raspberries, gooseberries, currants etc. and we also had chickens and geese, horses and cows. At harvest time we were particularly busy. My mother always brought the food she prepared to the field. At Christmas time there were Stollen, which she baked herself, together with Nuremberg gingerbread and other gifts for the employees. She also baked her own rye bread. She made her own soap in the laundry room.
Every morning at least 10 cows had to be milked. Whenever a poor man or woman came to us, she was always very helpful. Every Sabbath she went to our synagogue together with Mrs. Frankenberg. The Nazis had desecrated them in the so-called "Kristallnacht".
The holy Torah rolls have torn them apart and burned books as well. With this crime they proved what they thought of their own Christian religion, which is closely connected to us through the Old Testament.
I still remember my teachers Löffler, Sohre, Weingarten and Georgi, whose exhibition we visited in the Bertholdsburg. His geology class was very interesting. It was very difficult for me to cultivate friendship in school. At school they had hung up the Stürmer newspaper box with all the stupid cartoons of long-nosed Jews."
"My brother Gustav was arrested at the age of 18 together with Harry Lang and [the Gentile] Ernst Kühner, who worked in our company, and taken into so-called protective custody. The charge was a preparation for high treason. The accusation could be heard on Radio Moscow.
For two years they were all in the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps after being in prison in Erfurt.
After his release Harry Lang went to the USA - just like my brother who left Germany within one week.
Ernst Kühner was probably with the German army in Russia. We have heard nothing more from him. He was a noble man. He had often taken me to Schmiedefeld and Frauenwald by bicycle. We also went to Bamberg once. I loved the Bavarian Alps, especially the beer gardens..."
"Unfortunately I can't help you, because it makes me very depressed to think back to my youth in Schleusingen."