Viennese districts: 2nd District

Lotte Boneh was born Lotte Ramler in 1919 in Vienna and lived with her family in the 2nd district, where she went to high school. After the “Anschluss” in 1938 she was able to finish high school. Boneh’s sister had emigrated to Palestine years earlier and was able to get her a certificate with which she fled to Palestine. Their parents followed them, their brother fled to England. In Palestine, Boneh joined Haganah. At the time of her interview she lived in Israel.

Edith Dreyfuss was born Edith Zinner in Vienna in 1930. After the November Pogrom (“Kristallnacht”) her father was sent to a forced labour camp; Dreyfuss and her mother were evicted from their apartment and forced into a group apartment. In 1941, the family was deported to the Riga Ghetto, where her father was murdered. Dreyfuss and her mother were sent to the Riga-Kaiserwald Concentration Camp and were forced labourers. During a march to Poland in 1944 they were liberated by the Red Army. Dreyfuss returned to Vienna, but later emigrated to the US in 1947. At the time of her interview, she lived in New Jersey.

Emanuel Fuchs was born in 1918 in Vienna and lived with his family in the 2nd district, where he went to school and his father owned a bookbinders. After the Anschluss, Fuchs was imprisoned and was brought to the “Notarrest” (temporary jail) in Kenyongasse. He was later sent to Dachau Concentration Camp, where he was imprisoned for several weeks until he returned to Vienna and was forced to leave the country. Fuchs was able to emigrate with a friend to the USA via Germany, Amsterdam and Belgium. After serving in the US Army, Fuchs settled in New York and worked as a jeweler.

Kurt Goldberger was born in Vienna in 1925 and grew up in the 1st district. After the Anschluss in 1938, the Goldberg family was forced to leave their apartment. Goldberger escaped on a Kindertransport to Great Britain, where his mother had fled to a couple of months earlier. They emigrated to the USA in April 1944 where they were reunited with his father who had fled there previously. Goldberger worked for B’nai Brith for 21 years, campaigning for minority rights. At the time of the interview, Goldberger lived in New York.

Gertud Kissiloff was born Gertrud Nachtigall in 1923 in Vienna and grew up in the 2nd district. After her father’s arrest following the “Anschluss”, Kissiloff went to the Gestapo and was able to secure his release. Kissiloff and her brother escaped to Scotland with the Kindertransport in March 1939, followed some months later by their parents. In October 1940, the family emigrated to the USA. Kissiloff studied at the Cooper Union and worked after graduation as a graphic designer. At the time of her interview, she lived in New York.

Chava Lifschitz was born in 1924 and lived with her family in the 9th, and later the 2nd district of Vienna. In 1938 she attended the high school that she left after the Anschluss. Through her membership of the Maccabi Hatzair, Lifschitz was able to attend the Hakhshara camp Ahrensdorf in Brandenburg, from where she fled to Palestine. She worked there mostly as a teacher. At the time of the interview she lived in Israel.

Baruch Milrom was born in 1921 in Baden bei Wien where his parents ran a grocery shop. After the 'Anschluss', the shop was looted by SA men and the family had to leave Baden shortly after. He was able to flee to Palestine with the help of a Zionist youth organisation. His brother was also able to escape, but his parents were murdered in the Shoah. In Israel he worked for an international shipping company, amongst others. At the time of the interview he lived in Haifa. 

Gertrude Wortzmann was born Gertrude Frage in Vienna in 1922. She lived with her family in the 2nd district. Her family fled to Poland in 1939. After the invasion by the German Wehrmacht, she was forced to live in the Lviv Ghetto and was interned in Lemberg-Janowska Concentration Camp. She escaped with the help of an Austrian Wehrmacht soldier in 1943. She hid in the house of a Polish woman until her liberation by the Red Army in summer 1944. Wortzmann returned to Vienna in 1945 before she emigrating to the USA in 1949. She lived in New York City at the time of her interview.