Oral History Interview with John B. Coulston

Margaret Beer, nee Weiss, was born January 9, 1911 in Sighet, Hungary. She details the swift transfer of all the Jews of Sighet in the first month of the German invasion, describing howS.S. troops moved into many Jewish homes, including hers during the German occupation, and how Hungarian authorities identified prominent Jews whomthe S.S. forced to form a Jewish Council. The Germans then confiscated Jewish businesses and personal property. Once ghettoized, the Jews were helped by non-Jewish Hungarians who smuggled food into the ghetto. She describes the evacuation of all Jewish patients from the local hospital, the formation of a Jewish police force, the evacuation of the Jews from the ghetto and the transports to Auschwitz.

She describes in great detail life in Auschwitz including the initial selection, showers, barracks, Appells, work conditions, food allotment, wash barracks, and her selection by Mengele. In July 1944 she was transported to Gelsenkirchen, Germany to work in the Krupp armament industry. She describes the working conditions and Allied bombings. In September 1944 she was transferred to Sömmerda in Thuringia, Germany to work in another ammunition factory. As the Allies drew close in April 1945, the camp was evacuated; Margaret escaped during the death march and eventually found housing in a German village until liberation at the end of April 1945. She describes help from Russian POW’s and later American liberators. Her skills as a dressmaker helped sustain her until May 1946 when she could join her brother who had been living in Philadelphia.

Anneliese Nossbaum, née Winterburg, was born in Guben, Germany on January 8, 1929. She and her parents relocated to Bonn, Germany. Anneliese describes societal changes in 1933 as signs excluding Jews from shops and parks began to appear. With other Jewish children, she attended a special school. After Kristallnacht, November 10,1938, the family attempted to emigrate; however, the borders closed before they could escape. Trapped in Germany, in 1941, they surrendered their home and were relocated to a two-room apartment in a former cloister. Anneliese describes the deteriorating conditions for Jews: Jews had to wear yellow stars, were required to walk in the streets, could not attend schools, and had no freedom of movement.

Eventually, the family was deported to Theresienstadt.There, mother and daughter were housed together for a short while before Anneliese was sent to a youth home. Anneliese describes the 1944 visit by the International Red Cross as a total farce and gives details of cover-up. Once the inspection ended, the transports to Auschwitz resumed. Anneliese, her parents and an aunt and uncle traveled for three days to reach Auschwitz.Her father died in Kaufering/Dachau in December 1944.

Although she and her mother remained in Auschwitz for only five days, she believes those days stripped away any semblance of childhood that remained. She gives a detailed description of arrival, selection, showers and the barracks. While at Auschwitz she experienced depravation, humiliation, hunger, beatings and fear she would be killed as she listened to the deaths of others. After five days, she and her mother were sent to an airplane factory in Saxony, near Dresden. She describes the improved living conditions compared with Auschwitz, the 10 hour working day, and the bombing of the factory which lead the inmates to despair since they had time to reflect on the horrible conditions.She describes a horrific three week journey in open air cattle carsand closed cars to Mauthausenin Austria. On May 2, 1945, with the Allies close by the women nearly missed death when they were returned to their barracks rather than gassed because of a lack of Zyklon B gas. Two days later, guards dressed in civilian clothing and fled. On May 5, the camp surrendered to the Americans. Eventually, the Russians took over. Her mother was being treated for tuberculosis, but faked an attack of appendicitis in order to be transferred to a hospital in Linz under the control of the Americans. Her mother died there of TB. Anneliese emigrated to the United States in the summer of 1946.

Collateral Material associated with this interviewee:

Transcript includes poetry in German and English on additional pages.

There are also copies of personal documents, including passports available through the Gratz CollegeTuttleman Library.