Margit Edith Erna Bernstein née Oppenheimer

Family

Persecution

Liberation

08.05.1945, Bad Kudowa-Sakisch. SS released prisoners day before war's end. Led to Czech border at Náchod. Celebrated by Czech citizens as liberators. Returned via Prague to Theresienstadt searching for Siegfried and brother — did not find them. Traveled by foot back to Stuttgart via Heidelberg (mother). Brother also returned (heard in Hamburg she survived). Philip Bernstein found her name on survivor list.

Emigration

Location Trail

1. StuttgartBorn · 31.05.1922
2. EsslingenSent to Esslinger Waisenhaus · 1935
3. WuppertalResided (c. 1937-1938) · 1937
4. Stuttgart-Bad CannstattMargit moves from Wuppertal to Bad Cannstatt · 1938
5. EsslingenKristallnacht at Esslinger Waisenhaus · 11.1938
6. c/o Frau Marie, Geellbergstr. 1, Bad Cannstatt, StuttgartResided (c.1939) · 1939
7. StuttgartFailed plan to follow Änne to Denmark · 1939
8. Bad Cannstatt, StuttgartMargit writes seeking emigration sponsorship · 04.11.1939
9. Bad CannstattLetter · 04.11.1939
10. Hospitalstr. 36, StuttgartResided (c.1940-1943) · 1940
11. Feuerbach, StuttgartResided (c.1940-1942) · 1940
12. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 14.04.1940
13. New York, New York, USALetter · 17.04.1940
14. Hannover, GermanyLetter · 1941
15. Bronx, New York, USALetter · 02.1941
16. [Stuttgart, Germany]Letter · 04.04.1941
17. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 22.07.1941
18. Hannover, GermanyLetter · 08.10.1941
19. Munich, GermanyLetter · 25.10.1941
20. Basel, SwitzerlandLetter · 07.11.1941
21. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 24.11.1941
22. Ghetto TheresienstadtInterned · 17.04.1943
23. TheresienstadtLetter · 19.06.1944
24. KZ AuschwitzInterned · 01.10.1944
25. Bad Kudowa-SakischTransferred to factory camp in Silesia · 11.1944
26. NáchodReleased and welcomed in Náchod, Czechoslovakia · 05.1945
27. Bad Kudowa-SakischLiberated · 08.05.1945
28. Haifa, IsraelEmigrated to · 28.03.1946
29. HaifaArrives in Haifa, Palestine · 28.03.1946
30. Kfar Yehezkel, IsraelMarries Philip Bernstein · 14.07.1946
31. GemmingenLetter · 30.10.1946
32. Kvutzat Dovrat, IsraelLetter · 1949
33. Kiryat Haim, IsraelResided (c.1952-1957) · 1952
34. BaltimoreVisits cousin Mina in Baltimore, USA · 1957
35. IsraelLetter · 1963
36. Bad CannstattLetter

Timeline

• 31.05.1922Born in Stuttgart
• 1935Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus
• 1937Margit living in Wuppertal
• 1938Margit moves from Wuppertal to Bad Cannstatt
• 11.1938Kristallnacht at Esslinger Waisenhaus
• 09.11.1938Witnesses Kristallnacht at Esslingen Orphanage
• 1939Failed plan to follow Änne to Denmark
• 04.11.1939Margit writes seeking emigration sponsorship
• 17.04.1943Deported to Theresienstadt
• 19.06.1944Postcard from Theresienstadt
• 01.10.1944Deported to KZ Auschwitz
• 11.1944Transferred to factory camp in Silesia
• 05.1945Released and welcomed in Náchod, Czechoslovakia
• 08.05.1945Liberated at Bad Kudowa-Sakisch
• 28.03.1946Arrives in Haifa, Palestine
• 14.07.1946Marries Philip Bernstein
• 13.02.1952Wiedergutmachung proceedings initiated
• 1957Visits cousin Mina in Baltimore, USA
• 1963Writes memoir 'I Accuse'
• 26.01.2006Dies in Israel

Correspondence

Personal data sheet for emigrationLetter seeking emigration sponsorship1939Handwritten letter (page 2 / continuation) in German Kurrent script1940U.S. Customs Entry Record / Receipt / Missing Documents form (Customs Form 5101)1940Typed formal affidavit of support from Mrs. Bertha Katz née Falk (page 1 of 2...1941Blank reverse of the American Consulate letter from Stuttgart1941Handwritten letter with multiple notes from different writers1941Typed letter (page 1 of 2) from Simon Israel Oppenheimer III to his niece Min...1941Western Union telegram from Julius and Elsa Oppenheimer in Munich to Mina Kau...1941RCA Radiogram (telegram) from Zaro Tours Basel branch to Zaro Tours New York,...1941Handwritten letter1941Theresienstadt camp postcard1944Palestine Mandate Certificate of Marriage No. H 84844 — Philip Hans Bernstein and Margit Edith Erna Oppenheimer, married Kfar Yehezkel, Israel, 14 July 1946. Certified 19 July 1946 by the Rabbanut. Documents Philip's parents' Hebrew names: דוב (Bernhard) and חולדה.1946Handwritten letter to cousin — family fate19461949 Voter/Settlement Registry — Kvutzat Dovrat. Entries 17-18: Bernstein Margit Edith Erna (b. 1922) and Bernstein Philip Hans (b. 1922, child of Bernhard). Confirms residence at Dovrat and father's name.1949Margit Bernstein Memoir (1963)1963

Notes

Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus (Jewish orphanage) after father's arrest 1935

After school worked as Hausmädchen in Neuffen

During Kristallnacht 1938: visiting orphanage, which was attacked. Fled to mother in Stuttgart.

04.11.1939: Letter from Bad Cannstatt seeking affidavit for America. Plan to follow Änne to Denmark had failed. Mentions Uncle Simon.

Legal guardian c.1939: Leo Israel Moser, Kornbergstr. 45, Stuttgart (from USHMM personal data sheet)

Went to uncle in Hannover, apprentice in Jewish nursery (Ahlem)

Then returned to Stuttgart, Hospitalstr. 36, worked in Feuerbach nursery

19.06.1944: Postcard from Theresienstadt (camp address Ws. Logstr. 4/12) to Karl Maier, Baker, Solnstitting/Bavaria — confirming package receipt. Postcard routed via Prague.

ITS T/D 258485

Worked as Hausmädchen (housemaid) in Neuffen before the war.

Mother of Dani Tzor (1947-2019) and Yael Shacham (née Bernstein)

Memoir (1963): Father arrested March 1935 for Rassenschande. Three children (Änne, Margit, Josef) sent to Aunt Klara in Gemmingen, then to Jewish orphanage in Esslingen.

Memoir: Mother's second husband was a Christian. They lived in Heidelberg. Mother visited orphanage sometimes.

Memoir: Kristallnacht (Nov 9, 1938) — was visiting the orphanage when it was attacked. Head of house Theodore Rothschild collapsed; later died in Theresienstadt.

Memoir: After school, worked as housekeeper for Marx family in Neufahrn (near Esslingen). Then moved to Stuttgart Hospitalstrasse.

Memoir: Met Siegfried Michelbacher at Hospitalstr. 36 (Judenhaus). He worked as a cook. Their love sustained her through the camps.

Memoir: In Theresienstadt, worked agriculture (tomato fields) under supervisor Werner Neutle (German-Czech Jew, later in Shavei Tzion, Israel).

Memoir: Prisoner number at factory camp in Silesia: 86092. Factory produced aircraft engines/compressors.

Memoir: After liberation, learned Siegfried died 14 days before American army reached Dachau, of typhoid.

Memoir: Philip found her name on survivor list. He knew her from Esslingen orphanage. Jewish Brigade soldier.

Memoir: Arrived Haifa March 28, 1946. Found sister Änne already in Israel.

Memoir: 1957 — visited cousin Mina in Baltimore, USA.

Memoir: Written in 1963, ends with 'I Accuse.'

Marriage certificate H 84844 (Palestine Mandate, filed in Philip's citizenship file 3221) — married Philip Bernstein 14 July 1946 in Kfar Yehezkel. See correspondence 003_001_0034.