Edith Goldapper diary

Edith Goldapper (later Rosenthal 1924- ) was born on November 12, 1924 in Vienna, Austria to Leo Goldapper and Sofie Goldapper (nee Rosenzweig). Leo, an Austrian war veteran, lost both eyes in combat. As a wounded veteran, the government gave him a stationery and tobacco store to support his family. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, and soon thereafter, the new government seized his store. That December, Edith's parents sent her on a Kindertransport to Belgium. Along with other Jewish children from Germany and Austria, Edith stayed in the General Bernheim children's home, in Zuen. Following Germany's invasion of Belgium in May 1940, she was evacuated to Seyre in southern France. In May 1941 Edith was moved to La Hille, an isolated chateau, for over a year. She was sporadically able to correspond with her parents through the intermediary of Secours Suisse, a branch of the Swiss Red Cross. Early one morning in August 1942, Edith's life became suddenly endangered when French gendarmes raided La Hille. About forty of the home's oldest children, including Edith, were rounded up and sent to Le Vernet, a nearby concentration camp, to await deportation to the East. Edith remained at Le Vernet for a few weeks until the Secours Suisse negotiated for the release of the children. Edith remained in La Hille for another year while awaiting a chance to escape to Switzerland. In November 1943 she was given false papers under the name Eve Germain and went to live with Victoria Cordier, a member of the French resistance. The following month, on December 12, 1943, Victoria escorted Edith over the Jura Mountains into Switzerland. That night, Edith went to the parents of Anna-Marie Piguet, a staff member at La Hille, and the following day Mrs. Piguet brought her to Zurich. Edith was arrested shortly after her arrival and imprisoned for approximately a month. After her release, she was sent to refugee camps in Ringlikon and Rikon. She then managed to be transferred to girls' camps in Fribourg, Neuchatel, Lucerne and Montreux where she worked as a stenographer and secretary. In 1947 Edith went to work for a Jewish refugee organization in Zurich. In 1953, she received an affidavit from Mr. Bulova, president of the watch company, to immigrate to the United States. Mr. Bulova gave affidavits to a group of survivors without any immediate family. After the war, Edith learned that though her father thought he had permission as a war veteran to remain in Vienna, her parents were arrested in April 1942 and sent to Izbica concentration camp outside Lublin and killed.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Edith Goldapper donated the diary to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1996.