Kestenberg Archive

NB was born in 1935 in Lodz, Poland, where his mother and father were both textile workers. His father came from a very religious family but rebelled at an early age, choosing to become more secular. His mother, however, was very religious and always lived only a few blocks away from her parents. There were 2 siblings, an older brother who immigrated to the U. S. in the 1920's and a younger brother. In this interview, NB insists that his earliest memory is from 1942 in Russia, but later on we find out that this is not the case; it is trauma that holds him back. In September 1941, NB's parents fled to Cracow and after 6 months decided to leave again, taking the children. NB's mother also took her siblings, but had to send back her little sister to Lodz with her parents, who demanded she do so. The ghetto in Cracow formed after she left in 1941. In 1942, the family lived in Leningrad, Russia, in one small room with just cots for beds. NB's father worked in the coal mines but also in textiles. He was somewhat distant from his son emotionally, except for one incident in which NB was bitten by a scorpion and his father carried him to the hospital in 1942. ; NB's mother always worked very hard in the textile industry and NB frequently felt abandoned by her. At this time, NB was molested by a group of boys in Leningrad, and he attributes his current inability to relate to men to this traumatic incident. After the war, NB claims that he had trouble focusing in school. He was placed in a DP camp in Russia for 5 years, where many DP's were tutored in Hebrew in order to prepare them for immigration to Israel. In 1950, though, NB and his parents came to the United States. NB was 15 years old and began high school immediately at the Tilden High School in New York where he befriended another Polish immigrant. Unfortunately, they were both physically attacked at school. NB then studied engineering at City College in New York City, where he proceeded to graduate within 3 years. He was then drafted into the US Army for two years. NB got married in 1958, and in 1963 was offered a job in Germany at the Federal Electric Company. He and his family moved there for two years, but never visited Auschwitz. NB's father has now passed away, but his mother is still alive, and NB feels that she imposes tremendous guilt on him each time he comes to visit her. She accuses him of not staying long enough. At the time of the interview, NB has two children and lives in New York.