Oral History Interview with Willie Nowak

Helene Goodman, formerly Henia Flint, was born in Lodz, Poland in 1913 into an orthodox family. She studied piano at the Warsaw Conservatory posing as a non-Jew, and got her diploma in 1935. She briefly describes how the German invasion affected Polish Jews. In 1939 Helene and her family had to move to the Lodz Ghetto. Her father was brutally beaten by the KRIPO (Kriminalpolizei), lost his mind, and later died. She witnessed Polish-German cooperation, and the murder of Jewish orphans in the ghetto. Helene and her mother were transported to Auschwitz in August 1944, when the ghetto was liquidated. She describes the dehumanizing arrival process. During a “selection” by Dr. Mengele, she was separated from her mother and never saw her again. She is the lone survivor of her family. Helene was forced to play the piano for the camp commander’s birthday party and was stabbed repeatedly when she was too stunned to perform. Her wounds were not treated. A Jewish KAPO put her on a transport to Hainichen (a subcamp of Flossenbürg), near Chemnitz, Germany to save her life. Helene worked as a slave laborer at Framowerke, an ammunition factory. She describes living and working conditions. The supervisor was Gertrude Becker, an SS woman who was extremely cruel. She describes the effects of near starvation, how she tried to cope, and her acts of sabotage. Helene describes a Deathmarch at the end of April 1945, guarded by SS officers who took off their uniforms and fled once they arrived at Theresienstadt. She was liberated by the Soviet army May 9, 1945. Soviet women doctors treated the survivors. American soldiers took her to a quarantine camp at Landsberg am Lech where she tried to recover from the physical and emotional after effects of her experiences. She describes her post-war life in Regensburg, Germany after she met and married her husband, Jacob Gottlieb, including a frightening act of antisemitism and Zionist activities.. They lived in Regensburg, Germany until they immigrated to the United States. She concludes with her personal reflections on the Holocaust.

The image captures a large gathering of Orthodox Jewish men in what appears to be a community hall or synagogue. Dressed in traditional attire including black suits and hats, many of the men are seen clapping, suggesting participation in an event, celebration, or lecture. A long table in the foreground is set with food and drinks, indicating a social or ceremonial occasion.

Margot Freudenberg, born August 8, 1907 in Hanover, Germany, attended gymnasium and learned Jewish history, music and literature from her parents. She describes antisemitism after 1933 and later restrictions on her father’s medical practice. In 1934, after marriage and birth of a son, she obtained permits for emigration to South Africa, but her parents refused to leave Germany. She mentions attending a service during Kristallnacht, when the synagogue was set on fire. The kindness of Gentiles is detailed in regard to her son’s surgery in a German hospital when Jews were refused entry. She and her family escaped to England in June 1939. After arrival in the United States in 1940, Margot became a physical therapist and was honored in 1967 for her work with the intellectually disabled.

Baroness Elizabeth Kemény-Fuchs, the Austrian-born young wife of the Hungarian Foreign Minister Gábor Kemény, was shocked by the October 1944 persecutions of Jews under the Arrow Cross government. She thus, when approached by Wallenberg, was ready to help him, mainly by persuading her husband to help issue protective passports for Jews and also prevailing upon the German Ambassador Veesenmayer to issue needed visas, all at considerable risk to herself. She outlines how the stress of this, of the official duties, and of a difficult pregnancy caused her to go for a brief visit to her mother in South Tyrol, and how because of the baby’s birth and the Soviet siege of Budapest she never could return there. She critiques a film made about Wallenberg and her role, describing his actual activities, his special qualities, and his one misjudgment, being that of the Soviets’ motivations. She mentions aid to Jews by Weiss diplomats and by Angelo Rotta, the papal nuncio. She asserts that her own involvement was solely humanitarian and that she neither is of Jewish descent nor ever was Wallenberg’s mistress. She insists that her husband was not a Nazi, that indeed he helped save many Jews, and that the unjust idea of collective guilt led to his arrest, condemnation, and execution. She describes her own post-war struggles. She feels more could have been done, especially by Swedes, to free Wallenberg, doubted that he was still alive, asserts that he should remain “a very bright example” in an ever more selfish world.

This document is a program booklet for a two-part event held at Chapman University in November 2013, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The first part, "Perspectives on Kristallnacht 75 Years Later," features a symposium with Holocaust survivors and scholars sharing their experiences and research related to Kristallnacht and its broader context. Key contributors include Idele Steuer Stapholtz, Engelina Lowenberg Billauer, Curt Lowens, and Cantor Leopold Szneer, all Holocaust survivors and witnesses. Academic faculty from Chapman University and other institutions also present their perspectives. The second part is "An Interfaith Service of Remembrance for Kristallnacht" with guest speaker Richard Fybel. The program includes biographies of the speakers and historical information related to the Holocaust. It highlights the importance of remembrance and education regarding the events of Kristallnacht and its devastating impact.