Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Esther Posner - March 11, 1986

Did uh, your father have relatives or friends in Amsterdam? What made him choose Amsterdam?

Uh, my father felt that Holland would be safe. Um, and he was one of eight siblings--the others were all sisters--and one by one they all followed us--my father to Holland. He was like the leader of the family. My father's--four of his sisters followed him to Holland, his father and mother followed him. And my mother, two of her--my mother had two brothers and a sister. Her two brothers went to the United States, but her sister followed us to Holland also. And my mother's sister's husband was also a butcher and he and my father became partners and we became like an extended family. My mother's sister with her husband and child moved in with us--my father, mother and I--and my mother's parents lived with us. So what I remember from my childhood was a family of eight living together, with the husbands and wives all going to work and the grandparents taking care of my cousin and me.

Um, your father had eight siblings--was one of eight siblings?

Seven, yeah, seven siblings, right.

And your mother had three.

Right.

Um, how large do you think the extended family was, including, let's say through first cousins?

I don't know. I--that I, I just don't know.

Um, well. All right. We'll--of, of all--there were a number of them were married then.

Well, on my fa...my father--the three sisters that remained in Germany did not, I mean, we don't know what happened to them. They, they were lost. Of the, the four that came to Holland, four went into hiding around the same time that we did and uh, they were all saved. And my father's father who went into hiding--his mother had died before we went into hiding--but my father's father who went into hiding also was saved. So I think our experience was a lot better than most families. My mother lost her parents, her sister and family and uh, they were actually taken out of our home. I think this is going to be a...

[interruption in interview]