Malka Baran
Born in Warsaw, Poland, Malka Baran had an enjoyable childhood, full of good memories that would soon be shadowed by the Nazi invasion. As a child she lived in a small apartment with her family and attended a private school. Times were fairly peaceful for her. One night, she was awoken by her parents and told to get dressed. The SS German soldiers chased her family, as well as many others, out of their homes and marched them away. Not long after, she would be separated from her mother, only to never see her again. She was moved to a ghetto where she did labor for the German Army. During this time, her brother and father were shot and killed while working. She was moved again to a labor camp where she was forced to do more work. She explains that there was a woman hiding her baby from the Germans. Malka took care of the child when the mother could not. This experience helped her through those trying times. When the camp was liberated by the Russians, she was rescued and worked in a hospital kitchen to help her rescuers. At this place, she had experienced kindness for the first time in four years. Recalling this made her cry, but they were tears of happiness at the kindness of others. Malka had moved to Austria to work, and then moved to Israel, where she would live for years and years. She went there illegally, by train and walking over entire mountain ranges. She lived out a great portion of her adult life here, at the new home of the Jews. Her sad experience has long been over, but she still bears the scars of the loss of her family and her years of labor and torment.
"I remember seeing babies, this was a horrible thing, thrown against the wall and they're killed after the attack."
"I was extremely passive. I really couldn't care if I die or live."
Edith Coliver
Edith Coliver lived a relatively peaceful life, doing mostly work and studies. She was born in Karlsruhe, Germany where her life was simple and secure. She attended school and played with neighborhood children often. She was interested in sports and had many hobbies. She was ten years old when the Nazi's began their occupation of Germany. Because Jews began losing their rights, she had to leave her school and studies. In order to continue her education, her parents sent her to England, the first of many places she would travel to. Her family knew people at the school she attended, making it easier to get in. She was moved again to New York, where she saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. She describes it as a beautiful sight. Comforting feelings overcame her to know that the Americans were against Hitler, and supported the liberation. After living in New York, she moved again to San Francisco, California. It was here that she attended Berkley. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and had impressive grades. Her intelligence one day earned her a job working for the United States Senator. She later became a translator, which she had wanted to do. This job brought her back to Germany for a short time, where she witnessed the liberated concentration camps. Translating also brought her to the official trial of Hermann Goring, as well as other ranking Nazi members. Edith explains how Goring killed himself before his execution. She lived out her life working hard and traveling after she had married. She had been to the Phillipines, Greece, various parts of the United States, and other countries as well. The most recent job she had was working for the Free Asia Foundation. At the end of the interview, she tells the interviewer the only members of her family that were killed were some of her uncles. Being far from the Nazi's choke hold, she still suffered losses as others did.
"And I did see the Statue of Liberty. It was a wonderful, you know, sort of a dawn's early light. It was a marvelous experience."
"So, I considered myself very lucky."
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