Countries through which people fled: France

George Czuczka was born in Vienna in 1925. He lived with his parents in Karl-Marx-Hof, where he experienced the bombardment of the building during the February Uprising in 1934. After the Anschluss, Czuczka’s father was imprisoned for several months in Dachau and Buchenwald. The family fled to the US after his release in March 1939. Czuczka would return to Europe as a soldier in the US Army and later served in Germany, Austria and India for the US Foreign Service. He lived in Washington, D.C. at the time of his interview. 

John Fischer was born as Hans Fischer in 1909 in Vienna, where he lived in the 20th district and worked in a metalware factory. He was arrested during a visit to the dentist and imprisoned in the Rossauer Barracks, the Gestapo jail on Karajangasse and then in the Landesgericht. After his release he fled with his wife first to France and from there to the USA in February 1940. After his military service he worked as a salesman. At the time of the interview, Fischer lived in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

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.

Peter B. Neubauer was born in Krems an der Donau in 1913. In his youth, he was active in both socialist and Zionist youth movements. Neubauer began studying medicine at Vienna University, but emigrated to Switzerland after the February Uprising in 1934 where he completed his studies at the University of Bern. He worked as an assistant physician in Switzerland before emigrating in 1941 via France, Spain, and Portugal to the USA. Neubauer became an internationally established psychiatrist and university professor. At the time of his interview, he was living in New York City.

Robert Perels was born in Vienna in 1937. In 1939, he and his mother fled from Vienna. They got as far as Marseille. Mother and son were interned in various camps before being deported to Auschwitz by train in 1942. During a layover, his mother threw him out of the train. Perels hid in French woods together with a fourteen-year-old girl until they arrived at a monastery. Perels subsequently lived with a family of farmers before managing to flee to Switzerland in 1944 with the help of a Jewish children’s aid organisation. He was adopted there and lived in Zurich. In 1947, he emigrated to Palestine, where he lived with his aunt. At the time of his interview, Perels lived in Israel.

Frederick Terna was born Friedrich Arthur Taussig in 1923 in the 19th district of Vienna. He moved with his family to Prague in 1927. After the invasion of the Wehrmacht, Terna was thrown out of school and in 1941 was imprisoned by the Gestapo. He was interned in several camps, including Linden bei Deutsch-Brod and the Auschwitz and Kaufering concentration camps. After his liberation, Terna returned to Prague as the only survivor in his family. In 1946, he fled to France and from there to Canada. He moved to New York City in 1952 where he was living as an artist at the time of his interview.