Fritz Silten
Fritz was the younger son of Marta Silten-Friedberg and Ernst Silten. He was born in Berlin in 1904. The elder son was Heinz, born in berlin in 1901. He emigrated to England in the early 1930's, possibly around 1934 or 1935. He survived the war there, though he was, for a while, in an internment camp for aliens. After the War, he acquired British nationality and married Elizabeth Kathleen Mary (she was called Betty).Henry died in 1953, at age 52 in London, England. Fritz married Ilse Teppich in 1931; they had a daughter, Ruth Gabriele (me) in 1933. Fritz worked in his father's pharmacy in Berlin, Germany. He was a pharmacist, like his father. The pharmacy was owned by my grandfather, Ernst Silten. It was called the Kaiser Friedrich Apotheke (Emperor Frederic Pharmacy) and was located in what was then the Karlstrasse. Now it is called the Reinhardstrasse. In 1938 Fritz, Ilse and daughter emigrated to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ilse Silten-Teppich
Ilse was the elder daughter of Richard Teppich and Gertrud Teppich-Herz. She was born in Berlin in 1909 and was a commercial photographer by trade, though she never worked outside the home after her marriage. She married Fritz Silten in 1931; they had a daughter, Ruth Gabriele (me) in 1933. Shortly after Fritz left Germany to emigrate to Amsterdam, Ilse left also to emigrate to Amsterdam, with her daughter. They were trying to flee Nazism. The younger daughter of Gertrud and Richard was named Ursula, but went by Ulle, born in Berln, Germany in 1914. In 1939 she went to Lugano, Switzerland for work and stayed there. She survived the war there. She died in 1990. at age 76.
Ruth Gabriele Silten
I was born in 1933 in Berlin, Germany with the above name. In 1990 I added the name Sarah legally, so am now known as Ruth Gabriele Sarah. As a child I was called Gaby, but abandoned that name for the full name Gabriele after I came to the United States of America in 1959.
We found an apartment in Amsterdam shortly after my mother and I arrived, in what was then the Noorder Amstellaan. Today it is the Churchilllaan. My father worked, my mother took care of the house and me. I went first to Kindergarten, then to the Elementary school in the Jekerstraat.
In September of 1939, my grandmother Marta Silten-Friedberg (my father's mother) came to join us and lived with us. Her husband and my mother's mother stayed in Berlin. In May of 1940 The Germans invaded the Netherlands and we were trapped there. As Jews we were more and more isolated, had to wear the Yellow Star with "Jood" on it, were subject to all German rules and regulations. I had to go to a Jewish school - it remained my Jekerstraat school which became a Jewish school. The Germans came several times tio arrest us but we were let go again, I don't know why. On June 20, 1943 there was a big razzia in Amsterdam and we were deported to Westerbork where we arrived that same day, late at night. We were assigned to barracks 65. In July my grandmother's name was on a transport list (to Auschwitz,as I now know) and she chose to take her own life. She died on July 7, 1943. The three of us remained in Westerbork until January 1944 when we were deported, on January 18, to Theresienstadt in what was then Czechoslovakia. We arrived there on January 20, 1943 and stayed there until "liberation". I put this word in quotation marks on purpose because nobody knew what we were liberated for - what we would find when we came home, if, in fact, we were able to get home. Towards the end of June 1943 we were indeed able to go back to the netherlands and Amsterdam where we arrived on June 25, 1945, just about 2 years to the day after our deportation.
Survival
My mother, my father and I survived both camps and survived them together. My grandmother committed suicide as did her husband Ernst, my father's father, in Berlin when the Nazis came to the door. So also did my other grandmother Gertrud Teppich. They all went into death in their own place, at their own time and choosing and with dignity.
My father went back to work, my mother stayed at home again and I went back to school, absolving the Amsterdam's Lyceum in 1953 at age 20.
In 1959 I went to visit the USA, found it a liberating environment and was able to stay legally, under the German quota. I became a citizen of the USA in 1965, worked as a teacher at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, CA and am now (2010) retired and have been retired since 1985.
My parents eventually moved, first to London, England, then to Zurich, Switzerland. My mother died there in 1977; my father died in 1980. Somehow we all survived survival, albeit with difficulties.
All siblings of my grandparents and their offspring were murdered by the Nazis.
Today I live in Pomona, California, where I write poetry and prose. I have published a total of 5 books so far, two of which are autobiographies: my experiences as a child before and during the Shoah and, later, growing up after the war years. I am hoping to have enough material for a 6th book before too long.
R. Gabriele S. Silten
Pomona, CA
October 17, 2010