Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript
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Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp Name: Rachel (Rosa) Goldberg Katz (1924–2012) Birth Place: Lodz, Poland Arrived in Wisconsin: 1953, Oshkosh Project Name: Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors Rosa Katz of the Holocaust Biography: Rachel (Rosa) Goldberg Katz was born in Lodz, Poland, on May 6, 1924, to a well-to-do family with liberal Jewish beliefs. In 1935, her sister and brother-in-law immigrated to Palestine while the rest of the family remained in Poland. When the Germans occupied Lodz in 1939, 15-year-old Rosa was among the thousands of Jews crowded into the city's ghetto. Three years later, in July 1942, her mother was deported from the ghetto and never heard from again. In August 1944, the Lodz Ghetto was liquidated. Its starving residents, including Rosa, her father, brother, and sister-in-law, Hela, were all shipped to Auschwitz. There she was separated from her father and brother. She never saw them again. German officials mistakenly sent Rosa and hundreds of other Jewish women (instead of French prisoners) to work at the Krupp munitions factory in Berlin. For eight months, Rosa assembled delicate timepieces for German bombs. In March 1945, she was transferred to the death camp in Ravensbruck, Germany. The Swedish Red Cross liberated the camp within a month of her arrival. Its inhabitants were transported to Sweden where Rosa recuperated for several years. She married Bernard Katz there (also a survivor). In April 1948, they came to the U.S. Initially settling in North Carolina, the Katz family moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1953. They raised four children while Rosa earned a degree in nursing. She worked as a nurse at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh until her retirement in 1994. Audio Summary: Below are the highlights of each tape. It is not a complete list of all topics discussed. Tape 1, Side 1 • Family, childhood in Lodz, Poland • Family members who emigrated to Palestine Tape 1, Side 2 • Religious and secular schooling • Jewish cultural activities in Lodz • Anti-Semitism prior to the war • Her family's fear as war approached Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust Page 1 of 128 Wisconsin Historical Society Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp Tape 2, Side 1 • Start of World War II • The German invasion of Lodz • Creation of the ghetto • Description of Lodz Ghetto, 1940–1944 Tape 2, Side 2 • Over-crowding, starvation, disease in Lodz Ghetto • Sadistic cruelty by the Nazis • Rosa’s family is torn apart • Adolescent reactions to these horrors Tape 3, Side 1 • Living conditions and labor in the Lodz Ghetto • Government administration in the ghetto • Futile acts of resistance • A typical day in the ghetto Tape 3, Side 2 • Rosa's deportation from Lodz Ghetto, August 1944 • Arrival at Auschwitz and destruction of her family • Conditions at Auschwitz • Shipped to Berlin for forced labor Tape 4, Side 1 • Arrival in Berlin and symbolic acts of resistance • Forced labor in Krupp munitions plant • Allied bombing of the city • Jewish prisoners cheer the bombers Tape 4, Side 2 • Forced march to Oranienburg • Transfer to the death camp at Ravensbruck • Liberation by Swedish Red Cross • Arrival in Sweden, April 1945 Tape 5, Side 1 • Rosa’s attempts to find surviving family members • Rosa’s husband and his family background • Their marriage and immigration to the U.S. in 1948 • Living in North Carolina before settling in Oshkosh Tape 5, Side 2 • Rosa moves to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1953 • Anti-Semitism and kindness experienced there • Oshkosh Jewish community during the 1950s • Working as a nurse and raising children Tape 6, Side 1 • Friends and family life in Oshkosh • Attitudes of Americans toward the Holocaust • Religious life, social life and a typical day Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust Page 2 of 128 Wisconsin Historical Society Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp Tape 6, Side 2 • Anti-Semitism in the U.S. • Reflections on U.S. culture and politics • Travelling to Israel • Rosa’s philosophy on life About the Interview Process: The interview was conducted by archivist Sara Leuchter during two sessions at the Katz home on October 28 and 29, 1980. The first lasted two hours and the second nearly four and one-half. Rosa’s recollections are particularly interesting because she survived for almost five years in the Lodz Ghetto. Her experiences of the near-miraculous deportation from Auschwitz and her work on time bombs at the Krupp munitions plant in Berlin offer a unique addition to the experiences of the survivors interviewed for this project. Rosa comes across as a very kind and loving woman. Her strength and will to survive are evident throughout the interview. The description of her arrival at Auschwitz is powerful and heartbreaking, and testifies to the strength of those who survived to bear witness. Teachers should note that Rosa describes many instances of horrific cruelty, which may not be suitable for younger students. Transcript Details: Interview Dates • Oct 28, 1980; Oct 29, 1980 Interview Location • Katz home, Oshkosh, Wisconsin Interviewer • Archivist Sara Leuchter Original Sound Recording Format • 6 qty. 60-minute audio cassette tapes Length of Interviews • 2 interviews, total approximately 6.5 hours Transcript Length • 128 pages Rights and Permissions • Any document may be printed or downloaded to a computer or portable device at no cost for nonprofit educational use by teachers, students and researchers. Nothing may be reproduced in any format for commercial purposes without prior permission. Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust Page 3 of 128 Wisconsin Historical Society Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp Pictures: WHI Image ID 56776 WHI Image ID 44865 WHI Image ID 44866 WHI Image ID 44867 WHI Image ID 56773 WHI Image ID 44868 WHI Image ID 56775 WHI Image ID 44872 WHI Image ID 44869 Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust Page 4 of 128 Wisconsin Historical Society Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp Transcript The following transcript is from the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives. It is an unedited, firsthand account of the Nazi persecution of the Jews before and during World War II. Portions of this interview may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive audiences. It is unlawful to republish this text without written permission from the Wisconsin Historical Society, except for nonprofit educational use. Teachers should note that Rosa describes many instances of horrific cruelty, which may not be suitable for younger students. Key SL Sara Leuchter, Wisconsin Historical Society archivist RK Rosa Katz, Holocaust survivor TAPE 1, SIDE 1 SL: All right tape is on so I thought if you want to mention you’d like to dedicate the tape, go ahead. RK: Yes, I would like to dedicate this. I am doing this… actually it is very hard for me to go through all the, horrible times, but I feel it’s, I have an obligation in loving memory for my family and my parents. And that’s about it, you know. SL: Okay, great. RK: And also I would like my children to hear those tapes. I’m gonna have copies because I feel that maybe they are afraid to ask. They never ask too many questions about our past, and I feel that they should know. And I actually asked for copies so I could have for each of them. SL: All right, well, we can start with the interview then. RK: Okay. SL: I want you to tell me a little bit about your family background. RK: Okay. SL: Your place of birth, your date of birth. RK: Okay, I was born in Lodz, this is the second largest city in Poland after Warsaw. Warsaw was the first Lodz is the second. I was born May 6, 1924. I was the youngest of four children. SL: What was your maiden name? Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust Page 5 of 128 Wisconsin Historical Society Rosa Katz: Oral History Transcript www.wisconsinhistory.org/HolocaustSurvivors/Katz. asp RK: Goldberg, Rachel Goldberg, they use to call me Ruschka Goldberg. SL: What about the names of your parents, and if you can remember when they were born and where they were born. RK: Well, my mom was born; both parents were born in Brzeziny, a small town maybe about an hour, about 20 kilometers from Lodz. I think. I don’t remember the dates, but I remember the year. My father was born 1886 and my mother was born 1884. She was two years older than my father. SL: What were your parents’ names? RK: My father’s name was Abraham Aaron and my mother’s name was Sara. SL: And what was her maiden name? RK: Neiman. SL: Do you remember your grandparents’ names too? RK: Oh yes, yes. My father’s mother, her name was Leah. I don’t remember my grandfather from my father’s side because he died before I was born. His name was Zalman. And my grandmother was born in Russia. I don’t remember, I don’t know which place in Russia. And my grandfather, I think he was born also in Brzeziny. SL: And what about on the other side. RK: Yes, my mother’s parents. Grandmother’s name was Feige and my grandfather’s name was Schmuel Neiman. SL: Now you mention that one grandmother was born in Russia that you knew. RK: Right. SL: Do you know how long the family had been in the Lodz area? Were they there for a long period of time? RK: My father’s family? SL: Either side.