Bertl Rosenfeld / Bertha Esenstad (F / Germany, 1925), Holocaust survivor

Bertl Rosenfeld / Bertha Esenstad (F / Germany, 1925), Holocaust survivor

Edith Rosenfeld / Edith Kaye (F / Germany, 1927-1998), Holocaust survivor

Ruth Rosenfeld / Ruth Ezekiel (F / Germany, 1930-2009), Holocaust survivor

Herman Rosenfeld (M / Germany, 1933-1990), Holocaust survivor

Esther Rosenfeld / Esther Starobin (F / Germany, 1937), Holocaust survivor

Biography

Bertha (Bertl) Rosenfeld (later Bertha Esenstad, 1925- ) was born on October 28, 1925 in Korb, Germany. In 1937, Bertha and her sisters Edith and Ruth were sent to live with their aunt Friederika Lemberger in Aachen, Germany where they attended a Jewish school. During Kristallnacht, the girls witnessed the burning of their synagogue and were informed that their school had closed. A maternal aunt, Hannah (Johanna) lived in London and arranged for families to take in the Rosenfeld sisters. In March 1939, at the age of 14, Bertha was sent on a Kindertransport to Great Britain along with her sisters Edith and Ruth Rosenfeld. Bertha initially lived with a non-Jewish family, the Poole’s, near London. After the war began, she lived in Scotland. In 1941 Bertha turned sixteen and her aunt found her a room and a job in London. Bertha saved her money and sent what she could to her parents. In 1942, the Quakers working at Rivesaltes camp returned Bertha’s money because her parents were no longer there. It was not until after the war ended that the Rosenfeld sisters learned that their parents had died at Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1947, Bertha and her sisters joined their brother, Herman Rosenfeld, in the United States. In 1954, Bertha married Morris Esenstad, a World War II veteran, and they had two children, Alan Esenstad and Jeri Twigg.