Countries through which people fled: Great Britain

Georg Berlstein was born in Vienna in 1929 and grew up in the 4th district. He left in March 1939 on one of the Kindertransports to Great Britain. His mother followed him to England and his father was initially interned on the Isle of Man. At the end of 1940 the family succeeded in emigrating to the USA, where Berlstein continued his education and studied at Yale University. After completing three years of service in the U.S. Air Force, including a tour in Korea, he worked as an attorney. At the time of his interview Berlstein lived in New York.

Felicia Breitner was born in the 16th distict of Vienna in 1921. At the time of the Anschluss she was still in high school. Her brother and her father were able to flee to Shanghai, while she was able to escape to England in 1939 to join her sister who had already fled. Her mother stayed behind and died in Vienna. Many of her family did not survive the Holocaust. Breitner trained as a nurse and a midwife, working afterwards in healthcare. She later emigrated from England to Israel, where she lives today.

Peter Elmer was born in Vienna as Peter Epstein in 1923 and grew up in Vienna’s 13th district, where he went to primary school. At the end of 1937 he was sent to a boarding school in England and stayed there until his family emigrated at the end of 1938. They then fled to the USA via Switzerland and London, arriving in New York in January 1939. Elmer visited a private school and then the University of Wisconsin for a short time before military service with the US Army in Europe. He was later active in the textile industry in New York City where he continues to live today.

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.

Trude Goldblatt was born in Vienna in 1927 as Trude Deutsch and lived in Vienna’s 7th district. After the November Pogrom (“Kristallnacht”) in 1938 her family had to move into a "Sammelwohnung". Together with her twin brother, Goldblatt was able to flee to Great Britain on a Kindertransport in 1939. There she lived with a Christian family and trained to be a nurse. While visiting her sister in Israel she decided to stay there. She started a family and worked as a midwife and a librarian. At the time of her interview Goldblatt was living in Tel Aviv. 

Trudy Jeremias was born Trude Epstein in 1925 and grew up and went to school in Vienna’s 13th district. She emigrated to the USA with her parents and her brother Peter in December 1938 via Switzerland and London. After working as a ground stewardess and in several other jobs, Jeremias became a jewelry designer like her mother, who was a well-known interior designer and artist. She returned to Vienna for a short period in the late 1950s before returning to New York, where she lives today. 

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.

Trudie Solarz was born Gertrude Braun in Graz in 1931 and spent her early years in Carinthia where her father owned a series of small department stores. He was arrested during the November Pogrom (“Kristallnacht”) in 1938 and deported to Dachau. The family were able to escape to London in March 1938. The family emigrated on a Kindertransport ship to the USA, settling in Philadelphia. Trudie Solarz worked mainly as a secretary and held lectures about her experience as a refugee. At the time of her interview she lived in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

Alisa Tennenbaum was born Liselotte Scherzer in Vienna in 1929 and grew up in Vienna’s 20th district. Following the “Anschluss” in 1938 she had to leave school and her father was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp. After his release, he was able to flee to Great Britain and Tennenbaum followed him on a Kindertransport in August 1939. She lived in a children’s hostel in Windermere before joining her father in Glasgow in 1945. Her mother stayed in Vienna and survived several camps. In 1949 the family emigrated to Israel. At the time of her interview, Tennenbaum lived in Beit Herut.