Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Erna Blitzer Gorman - April 26, 1984

When did you come to the United States?

In uh, '53, '54, '53.

With your family?

With my father. My sister is, uh, stayed in, where we were in France and she, this is where we were bor... this is the town we were born. She's still there.

What happened when you got to the United States?

Well, my father, my father never recovered. Oh, I don't know if... Too many people know him. Why don't... why don't you stop this?

Um, when you came to the States you were uh, eighteen?

Yeah, about.

Did you go to school here?

I went, um... No, we were very poor and I had to go to work. But I took night classes.

In Detroit?

Mm-hm.

Why did you pick Detroit?

Well um, I have an aunt here.

And then?

Then um, hm. My father found a job and I... And it was meager enough, so we had to have enough to rent a, sub... rent a room in somebody's house and it took awhile. And then uh, with both of us working and scrimping and saving, we, we managed to rent a duplex, a half, a quarter... at least four apart... these four apart... apartment or they were called duplexes, four flats. And um, that was then, then, after that was the best time of my life. I uh, I was young and I just didn't want to feel anything that wasn't painful and uh, and uh I, I, I was fairly uh, attractive. I, I had a nice time.