name:"Eva" found 1 record - The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network

Notes: Eva Gillatt (née Oppenheim) was born on May 21, 1920 in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany. Her father died of leukemia when she was a child. Eva recalls having had a privileged childhood. Despite having no religious education, she was conscious of her Jewishness, especially with increasing political upheavals and the passing of the antisemitic Nuremberg laws of 1935. After a year at an orthodox Jewish boarding school, Eva spent a year as an employee at a Deaf and Dumb hall in Weinssensee, Germany. In 1937, she went to Harzburg to work. From there she left for Neuendorf in April 1938, where she trained on a farm run by a Jewish organization. Eva recounts that on Kristallnacht about 12 Nazis came on motorbikes and threatened to burn the farm down. They took everybody over the age of 20 to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Eva’s brother was sent to England on the Kindertransport in May 1939. On July 4, 1939, Eva went by ship to the United Kingdom to live with her uncle in London; she recounts an unhappy and isolated period, working hard under her uncle and being poorly treated. The war was just beginning at this point. For 16 weeks, Eva was stationed in an air raid shelter. When Eva turned 21, she left her uncle to train as a cook, and in May 1941, began working in this capacity for the British Army in Lancaster. It was there that she met and ultimately married the Sergeant of the 4th Allied Volunteer Platoon. They lived in Manchester for over 16 years and had three children. During the last years of the war, Eva found out that her mother had been sent by transport to Auschwitz where, Eva believes, she was killed within a day or two. Between 1954 and 1960, Eva worked in various clerical positions. For over twenty years she was an ad representative for several newspapers in Manchester and then moved on to become a hospital car driver. She currently works as a cook for an agency that helps less fortunate people. While Eva does not talk about her experiences during the war to friends, she was pleased to have had the opportunity to tell her personal story.

Accession No.: WTH-200

Name Access: Gillatt, Eva

Places: Berlin - Charlottenburg, Germany, Europe

Archival / Genealogical: Archival Descriptions

Repository: Montreal Holocaust Museum

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Gillatt, Eva - Oral History of a Holocaust Survivor and WWII Veteran

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