Gertrude Zeisler

Gertrude Zeisler b. Lion ( October 13, 1888 in Liberec - presumably 1942 ) was an Austrian victim of National Socialism , whose letters from the Kielce ghetto were published.

Life

Gertrude, who called herself Traud, was the daughter of Emilie Lion nee. Utitz (1859–1931) and Rudolf Lion (approx. 1858–1920). She had three brothers (Arthur, Manfred and Robert) and a sister (Ilka). She married the lawyer Max Zeisler, who was a Swiss citizen, and after marriage worked in his office. Her husband died on May 16, 1926. She lived for many years at Straßergasse 13 in Vienna- Döbling and had to leave her apartment under the Nazi regime. Because of her Jewish descent, she also lost her job in a law firm after the annexation of Austria . A collective apartment at Rotenturmstrasse 17 is given as the last place of residence. It was into on 19 February 1941 by Vienna Ghetto Kielce deported . She did not survive the Holocaust .

Her letters and postcards from the Kielce Ghetto were transcribed and translated into English and published in 1981 by her niece Gerda Hoffer . The German-language publication followed in 2009. Some letters are also available on the Internet. The letters paint a vivid picture of everyday life in the ghetto, how much the inmates relied on the help of friends and acquaintances and how scarce resources were.

The last sign of life dates from August 13, 1942. A week later, the German armed forces began to liquidate the ghetto. Presumably in the second half of August 1942, Traud Zeisler was murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp or while being transported there.

A letter from her cousin Olga Borges, who lived in Zurich, from October 1942 was returned with the note "Recipient warped 21/10 42".

Quote

On November 7, 1941, Zeisler described her everyday life in the ghetto with the words:

"If there were only a chance of finding some kind of work. Unfortunately, it is impossible, especially for women. My friend tried to harvest potatoes for one day. She gave up, although she is a younger and more industrial worker then me. In the evening she was on the verge of collapse and all she had accomplished was to ruin her last dress and shoes ... The world looks very gray. "

- Gertrude Zeisler : Letter from Kielce, November 7, 1941, translated by Gerda Hoffer

Book publications

Zeisler's letters and postcards were first published in English, and finally also in German:

• I Did Not Survive: Letters from the Kielce Ghetto . Translated and ed. by Gerda Hoffer , introduction by Martin Gilbert . 1981
• Traud Zeisler's letters from the ghetto in Kielce , 1941–1942, ed. by Gerda Hoffer, transcribed by Matthias Schulz, o. O. o. D. (2009)

Commemoration

Memorial stone for Gertrude Zeisler , Vienna

To commemorate Gertrude Zeisler, the Vienna Stones of Remembrance Association placed a commemorative stone in front of her former residence at Straßergasse 13. The inscription on the upper half of the stone reads: IN MEMORY OF GERTRUDE ZEISLER, 10/13/1888, DEPORTED TO LODZ in 1941, MURDERED IN HOLOCAUST . The lower half of the memorial stone is dedicated to Zeisler's sister Ilka and her husband, the writer Stefan Pollatschek , the inscription reads: THE WRITER STEFAN POLLATSCHEK AND HIS WIFE ILKA, WHO ALSO LIVED HERE, COULD ONLY ESCAPE.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Documentation archive of the Austrian resistance : Gertrude Zeisler: "You will consider me a right-wing jammer" , accessed on January 16, 2017.
2. ↑ DÖW 23.337: Gertrude Zeisler born. Lion, b. October 13, 1888 , From the archive: News from the Ghetto Deportations Vienna - “Generalgouvernement”, 1941, accessed on January 16, 2017.
3. ↑ Gertrude Zeisler on yadvashem.org
4. ↑ Quoted here from Norman JW Goda (ed.): Jewish Histories of the Holocaust: New Transnational Approache , New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books 2014, 78f. The translation back into the German language is deliberately omitted here because it could give the wrong impression of an original text.