Esther Karpman collection

Esther Karpman was born Esther Goldfinger in Warsaw, Poland on February 18, 1918. Her father, Moshe Aron, had a wholesale glove business at 37 Nalewki Street. Her mother, Chava Nelkenbaum Goldfinger, took care of the children. Esther had four siblings: Josef Lejb, b. 1910; Ryfka, b. 1912; Masza, b. 1914 and Chana, b. 1916. The family, who was observant and sent Esther to a religious school “Havatzelet,” lived at 23 Nalewki Street, in the Jewish neighborhood of Warsaw. Esther joined “Hashomer Haleumi” a Zionist youth movement at the age of 13, against her parents’ will and immigrated to Palestine in 1936. She settled in Nahalal and later in Mikve Israel, agricultural settlements. Esther’s parents demanded that she return for a family visit to Poland. In the summer of 1939 Esther traveled to Warsaw on a Polish passport. In the confusion of the first days of the war in September 1939, Esther was stranded in Warsaw while her British visa and her ship ticket to Palestine expired. With great difficulty, Esther was able to obtain a permit from the Gestapo to leave Poland. While waiting for the permit she met the owner of a travel agency “Adriatyka,” who gave her a blank ship ticket. At the end of November 1939 Esther finally left Poland for Trieste, Italy via Katowice and Linz, Austria. She managed to convince the ship company to let her board the SS “Jerusalem” and sailed for Haifa. Upon her arrival she married her longtime boyfriend, Itzhak Karpman, on December 22, 1939. All members of Esther’s immediate family perished. Itzhak and Esther Karpman have three children: Dahlia, Daniel and Diana as well as five grandchildren: Jonathan, Michael, Deborah, Reuben and Hanna. Itzhak Karpman died in 1997. Esther Karpman currently resides in New York City.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Esther Karpman

Esther Karpman donated these papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2000.