Gisela Edel / Naomi Elath (F / Germany, 1928), Holocaust survivor

Gisela Edel / Naomi Elath (F / Germany, 1928), Holocaust survivor

• KEYWORDS : <Germany> <Refugees, France> <Spain> <Portugal> <Youth Aliyah> <Israel>

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Biography

Gisela Edel was born 12 mar 1928 in Stettin, Germany, to Jacob and Henriette. She was a refugee in France at Chateau de La Guette and La Bourboule, Le Couret, and Rulhe. She hid in France, until she crossed illegally the border with Spain and took refuge in Portugal. She emigrated to Palestine in Nov 1944. Her parents perished in the Holocaust.

Naomi Elath (born Gisela Edel) is the daughter of Yaakov Edel and Henrietta (nee Seelig) Edel. She was born on March 12, 1928 in Stettin, Germany where her father worked in a men's clothing store. Though not Orthodox, the family observed the Sabbath rituals and major Jewish holidays. Gisela attended the Jewish Elementary School (Juedische Volkshule) after it opened in 1934. In 1936 the family had to move because the Nazis seized their old home to use as a printing press. Later that year, in December 1936, Gisela's father was arrested supposedly on charges of Rassenschande. He was released about nine months later in October. Gisela witnessed his arrest since she was home recovering from diphtheria, but her mother tried to hold the truth from Gisela telling her that her father was working in another store branch in Hamburg. Yaakov then lost his job after the owner of the clothing store sold his business. Her parents tried to immigrate to the United States but were unable to acquire visas. On the day of Kristallnacht, Gisela went to school as usual to discover that the Gestapo had arrested the teachers. She was told to return home and wait for further announcements. After that she told her parents that she wanted to try to leave Germany. After some time she returned to school and continued attending as before until a social worker came to her home and told her she was going to France. On March 20, 1939 she traveled to Berlin with her mother. There, along with a group of other German and Austrian Jewish children, she boarded a train to France. After spending a few days in the Rothschild hospital in Paris, Gisela was sent to the Rothschild estate, Chateau de la Guette. For a year she lived at the Chateau enjoying its spacious grounds and learning French. However, after the German invasion of France in May 1940, the children were evacuated from La Guette to the village of La Bourboule in the Massif Central region. At the end of December 1941, Gisela moved to another children's home, Le Couret, where she stayed until November 13, 1943. She then was sent to an old age home attached to a convent organized by 10 nuns. She lived there clandestinely under the name Giselle Bedel until the underground arranged for her to join a group of five children who were led by a guide across the Pyrenees Mountains in June 1944. After crossing the border, the children lived in Barcelona for two months and then moved to Portugal where they stayed in a home near Lisbon for another three months. In November 1944 they sailed to Palestine on a Youth Aliyah transport and Gisela went to Kfar Ruppin. Gisela's parents along with the rest of the Stettin Jewish community were deported to Piaski, near Lublin, Poland in February 1940 and perished in the Holocaust.

ajpn.org

Gisela, born on 03/12/1928 in Szczecin (Poland) or Stettin (under German occupation), is the daughter of Jacob (Yaakov) Edel, tailor, and Henriette née Seelig.

Gisela attends the Jewish primary school in her town.

In 1936, the Nazis requisitioned their house and the family had to move.

In December 1936, Yaakov Edel was arrested, in front of Gisela Gisela who had stayed at home where she was recovering from diphtheria. Her mother, to protect her, told her that her father had left to work in a store in Hamburg. He will be released in October 1937, after 9 months of internment, but he loses his job, his boss having sold his workshop.

The Edels try to immigrate to the United States, but do not get a visa.

After Kristallnacht, Gisela goes to school, but the teachers have been arrested by the Gestapo and the school is closed.

She manages to leave Germany with the help of Jewish relief networks. With a group of German and Austrian Jewish children, she arrives in France. After a few days spent in the Rothschild Foundation hospital in Paris, Gisela is sent to the Chateau de La Guette. She stayed there for a year and learned French.

After the invasion of France by the Germans in May 1940, the children were evacuated to La Bourboule, in the Massif Central.

At the end of December 1941, Gisela was taken in at the Le Couret children's home, managed by the OSE. She remained there until November 13, 1943.

After the big roundups in the summer of 1942, it was urgent to disperse the children housed in the OSE hostels. The OSE is committed to seeking places capable of housing Jews who have not been safe anywhere since November 1942.

A first group of 13 teenagers arrived at the Hospice de Rulhe in February-March 1943. The children of school age were placed in other establishments.

At the Rulhe Hospice, Sister Jeanne-Françoise Zufferey* is in charge of caring for these young people on a daily basis, while Mother Antoinette Masserey* retains full responsibility for relations with the OSE and other administrations.

The teenage girls are presented as Alsatian refugees and are strictly instructed to remain silent about their past.

The main leader of the group of children sent to the Hospice de Rulhe is Marthe Lévy and a young Swiss woman, Franceline Bloch, who circulated under false identities (Franceline Moulin, Simone Ponsard or Françoise Bérard), was in direct contact with the young people. .

Arrived in 1943, Gisela Edel, born on 03/12/1928 in Szczecin (Poland), stayed 10 months in Ruhle. With three other Jewish teenagers (Liselotte Bodenheimer, known as "Ilse", born on 05/09/1928 in Nieder (Germany), Annie Fischer, born on 21/05/1928 in Neuhofen (Germany), Lotte Michel, born on 07 / 11/1927 in Mannheim (Germany) and Gisela Edel, born on 03/12/1928 in Szczecin (Poland), she works in the kitchen and the laundry, feeds the pigs or takes care of the vegetable garden, and even chops wood.

The four teenagers were housed in a large room where Sister Jeanne-Françoise Zufferey* slept, separated from them by a curtain. Out of respect for their faith, Sister Jeanne grants them Saturday rest and also refrains from working on that day. On Sundays, the young people did not work either, but they had to go to mass. Sister Jeanne-Françoise finds the time to take them for walks and teaches them hymns so that they can sing in a choir.

In June 1944, Françoise, leader of the "Jewish Army" clandestine network, came to pick up Liselotte Bodenheimer, known as "Ilse", Annie Fischer, Lotte Michel and Gisela Edel to smuggle them into Spain and from there to Israel. They had just spent ten months in Rulhe. Brought to Toulouse, they were able to cross into Spain, accompanied by a guide who took them across the Pyrenees. They will stay two months in Barcelona, then will be accompanied to Portugal where they will spend three months in a house near Lisbon.

In November 1944, she left for Palestine with a group of young Zionists. Gisela arrives at Kfar Ruppin.

After the war, she will learn that her parents and the entire Jewish community of Stettin were deported to Piaski, near Lublin (Poland) in February 1940 and will be murdered.

Liselotte Bodenheimer, Annie Fischer, Lotte Michel and Gisela Edel will take steps in favor of Sister Jeanne-Françoise Zufferey* with whom they maintained a regular correspondence. Sister Jeanne-Françoise Zufferey* visits them in Israel.