Kestenberg Archive

RG was born in 1924 or 1928 and raised in Berlin, Germany. In 1931-32, RG's mother was hospitalized in a Swiss sanatorium. That year, Hitler came to power. RG and her sister accompanied their mother to Switzerland, attending a Jewish boarding school. Soon after, her mother gave birth to an illegitimate daughter and divorced. RG returned to live in Hamburg, Germany, with her mother, sister and half-sister until her mother's death in 1934. She and her sister were then sent to Holland, living with other young Jewish refugees. The half-sister went to the US. When the Germans invaded Holland, they deported the entire group, which included distant cousins. In 1936, RG's father relocated to Paris, France, where he worked as a publisher and printed for the Propoganda Ministry. In 1939, RG and her sister went to visit their aunt, father and step-mother in Paris. For a while, she attended school there. Summer of 39/1940, RG was shuttled among relatives in England. When the two girls applied for exit visas from France, they were detained and interred in a deportation camp, where eventually all the Jews were sent to Poland. The family remained there for 2 months. As the Germans advanced on the south of France, the French soldiers guarding them were in a state of chaos and discharge papers were easily available. She and an aunt fled the camp. After Hitler signed an armistice with the Vichy Government, they found themselves in an occupied zone, so they returned to the camp. RG was aware that the Nazis were killing Jews. At this point, 1940, the entire family recieved emergency exit visas to the US. They fled over the French boarder and managed to bribe their way through Spain, and sailed on a Greek ship to America. ; RG arrived in NY, but completed her high school education in the mid-west. She then worked and was offered a scholorship to college. She married, has 2 children and is a practicing psychoanalyst. She lacks a sense of belonging and stability because her early childhood was so disruptive. RG attended over 10 schools and lived in various countries: Germany, Holland, France, Austria,Spain and Switzerland.