Jennifer Carlson- Holocaust Survivor Testimonies

Edith Coliver was born July 26th, 1922 in Karlsruhe,Germany. Her father worked in a bank, and they were considered a middle class Jewish family. She had two brothers who were born in 1928 and 1929. Edith and her family lived in a bottom floor apartment of a large house. Edith had many friends as a child, one who's name was Gertrude, who died in an extermination camp. Edith loved to do crafts, write poetry and running track. Her life changed when she was only ten years old. This is when Hitler came into power. In 1937, Edith was no longer allowed to attend public schools because she was Jewish. In 1938, Edith and her family moved to the United States. She was surprised they got to move so quickly, because the waiting list was usually around ten years. After arriving in America, they spent four weeks in New York, then traveled to San Francisco on the Panamal Canal. They rented an apartment and Edith attended George Washington High School. She then went on to Berkley and majored in International relations and Political Science. After she graduated, she worked in The war office. After peace broke out, Edith found work for a senator from California for about two months. She then learned of the Nuremberg Trials in Germany. Edith felt more than qualified for the job. She got hired and left for Germany immediately to start preparing for the trials. She practiced her translating skills for about two months. She interpreted on many trials including Adolf Hitler and Goering. They both killed themselves to avoid being hanged. During these trials Edith realized how lucky her and her family were to have gotten out of Germany when they did. As it was, she lost an Uncle in the concentration camp. After the trials were over, she traveled around Germany a bit, where she met her husband. Edith got a job working for the Free Asia Foundation and retired after forty years of service. QUOTE: "Office of wistful intentions". QUOTE: "I was just a small potato".