Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Edith Roth - March 28, 1982

Talking About Experiences

Do your children know about...

I don't know if you know my son, Robert Roth, my son and my son-in-law, they're attorneys, both of them. Do you know my son?

Uh, Dr. ???'s mentioned and uh, he told him about...

I have nice children, yeah.

And they know the story?

He wants to know. Robbie is, um...

Husband: Uh, Robbie is the only one, I think, who has an idea.

Not the only one, Lisa does too.

Husband: Oh, well Lisa.

Did you tell them about it?

Husband: Not until about a year ago, a few years ago, we started talking about it, before then we didn't.

Can I-why didn't you tell them?

Husband: It's painful to talk about.

For you to talk about? Can you tell me?

Well, my son Robbie, when he, when he was, he was little, he said, he said to me "Why um, everybody has a grandma and, and I don't?" You know, the kids are calling grandmothers, grandmothers, so I told him they died and that was it. He didn't quite, you know grasp. My daughter went to Hillel. I don't know if you know Hillel.

Of course.

And Dr. ??? was showing them movies long, long time ago, when she went to fourth grade and third grade and everything and my daughter has nightmares and she's, she's very much in tune with it, the whole thing.

She's still, she's still having nightmares about it?

Yeah.

When you came to the United States, did, did you talk to anybody about it? Did you tell neighbors, people that you met?

Mm-hm, yeah.

And how did They react to that?

With utter disbelief. And the Jews, the American Jews are guilty too, in some ways.

They're guilty?

Mm-hm.

Because they didn't help you mean?

Yeah, I think. One thing was sure, nobody would go anymore, like lining up and going to the, they won't fight when they came out of this. Nobody would just line up and go, go.


© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn