National Holocaust Monument: Landscape of Loss, Memory and Survival

Testimony

For centuries, Jewish people lived in Germany where some faced continuous antisemitism (fear and hatred of Jews) and religious discrimination by their Christian neighbours. In 1871, Jews gained equal rights in Germany and by the early 20th century most were highly assimilated.

Watch the clip of testimony from Gerda Frieberg, who recalls visiting her family in Berlin, Germany before the Nazi rise to power.

About the Interviewee

Gerda Frieberg was born in 1925 in Bielszowice, Poland. While Gerda’s family celebrated Jewish holidays they were also a part of their town’s non-Jewish community. Gerda’s dreams of becoming a doctor were shattered with the outbreak of World War II. During the Holocaust, Gerda was forced to live in multiple ghettos and concentration camps. Gerda was liberated in 1945. Out of her 172 family members, only Gerda, her sister and mother survived. In 1949, she moved to Israel but decided to immigrate to Canada in 1953. Gerda was interviewed by the USC Shoah Foundation on March 21, 1996, in Toronto, Canada.


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