Kestenberg Archive

RL was born in 1928 in Michel, a small town in Transylvania, Romania. When RL was a young child, her father lived in USA and RL lived with her mother and four siblings. However, when RL's mother died her father returned to take care of the children. RL and her family had American visas but once Hungary occupied the area they couldn't leave. RL's father was in the necktie business with his brothers and spent most of his life in America (his last 30 years in Israel). RL attended a mixed school with Romanians. There was no social interaction between the Jews and Romanians but relations were cordial. Most of the Jews in the community were orthodox. In the town the Jewish families spoke Romanian, German and Yiddish. When the war started, Hungarian soldiers came to town and occupied houses. RL's family had to live in one room of their house. ; When German soldiers occupied the town a few months after the Hungarians, Jews were not allowed to go outside freely and had ration cards for food. At this time RL tells about smuggling food. RL and her family lived in the ghetto with five families in one room for a short while and from there they were transported to Auschwitz (around 1944) where they were interned for a year. In Auschwitz, RL was separated from her mother and sisters and that was the last time she saw them. Her paternal grandmother also perished in Auschwitz. RL's brother was sent to Bergen Belsen. The conditions in Auschwitz were terrible. Every month RL and others had to walk to Birkenau. After leaving Auschwitz, RL and her sister were transported to a different camp. RL worked in the kitchen of the camp and later they were transported from city to city until arriving in Bavaria where she was reunited with her brother (he died a week after the war ended). When the Russians came, RL and her sister ran away and started the long journey home. After six weeks they returned to their abandoned house. After the war RL's father bought her a ticket to USA (although she wanted to come to Israel). RL was helped by the Joint. ; At the time of the interview, RL is married. Her husband was born in Romania although his part was not occupied by the Hungarians. He immigrated to Israel and served in the IDF. In 1952 he immigrated to USA, where he met RL. They have five children ranging from aged 29 to 17 years.