By JOE CHARLAFFgerda hoffer 224.88(photo credit: Joe Charlaff)
Gerda Hoffer was born in Vienna in 1921. Social injustice, fighting anti-Semitism and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust have marked her life.
She recalls that when she was two, her mother would take her to the park every morning to sit with a few Jewish women who were her friends. "So naturally my first playmates were Jewish. One girl in particular, Reenie Rosenberg, who became my best friend, influenced me so profoundly as we grew up that it eventually led me to live in Israel."
At four, while on vacation with her parents in the lake district of the Tyrol, the tranquility was shattered one night by heavy boots heard running in the corridor, followed by banging on their door and shouts of "Jude verrecke" (Death to the Jews). "My mother dressed me immediately and we returned to Vienna. This was the first time I was aware of the word 'Jew.' I became conscious that I was a Jew and I had a feeling that the Jews were something special."
BACKGROUND
In February 1934, when Hoffer was 13, there was a social revolution in Austria. Factory workers went on strike as a symbol of their struggle against the fascist regime. "My father explained to me what had happened in terms of how many people were poor and starving. As a result I became very conscious of social problems and joined the Young Communist movement, which was an illegal organization.
"At the age of 16, on September 13, 1937, I was arrested on suspicion of being a member of the Communist Party. I was taken to a police station and put in a cell where there were some horrible-looking women who stank to high heaven. From their manner of speech I realized they were prostitutes."
She refused to divulge any information about her membership in the party and was put into solitary confinement. She recalls: "I cried for a few hours and then remembered a book I had read about a prisoner in Siberia. I then decided to make the best of the situation. I arranged my day in a very orderly fashion. I ate half of the roll I was brought for breakfast and then did 60 movements of a physical exercise, then ate the other half of the roll and then walked up and down the cell 10 times. Then I started reciting aloud all the poems I had ever learned. After lunch I started telling myself stories from all the books I had ever read."
She was subsequently released as a result of an article her father wrote for several foreign newspapers about the fact that the Austrian government was afraid of schoolchildren and arrested them.
In March 1938, following a radio announcement that Hitler had occupied Austria, her mother announced that they would leave for Czechoslovakia, but it took another six unbearable months under the Nazis until visas were finally issued.
"While in Czechoslovakia we applied for visas to go to England and on arrival were sent to live in a village."
Bored with village life, she moved to London in the middle of the Blitz and stayed in a hostel for refugees where she met her future husband, Fred. They married after a brief courtship in 1942. Fred was serving in the British army and following his release they attempted to adjust to the English lifestyle.
She worked at a variety of jobs including being a baby's nurse, a governess and in an armaments factory where Fred also worked. She remained a social activist, but realized that her fascination with communism was an adolescent obsession.
BEFORE ALIYA
In 1958 she discovered her childhood friend, Reenie, was living on a kibbutz near Haifa and visited her. "We had very little money and went by boat to Israel." When the boat docked in Haifa, a policeman came aboard. Hoffer noticed that his cap bore the insignia of the Magen David.
"At that moment, I remembered when Hitler marched into Vienna. The greatest shock was to see police with swastikas on their caps and understanding that the police couldn't protect me anymore. I suddenly realized that it didn't matter what sort of government was in power in Israel, the police would always protect me."
She recalls that it being the most fantastic holiday she'd ever had. Reunited with people who knew her as a child, "I connected with my childhood again. I didn't want to go back to England; I wanted to stay in Israel." But Fred said, "It's too late." He was a lawyer in a very good job. "I can't start studying again in a language I can't even speak."
Returning to England, they attended evening Hebrew classes but she had difficulty learning and decided she would study Hebrew when she got to Israel. They planned to make aliya when they had saved enough money and visited the country whenever they could. In 1971, Gerda awoke to find that Fred had passed away in the night.
ARRIVAL
On the night of October 18, 1978, Gerda made aliya alone and arrived at a friend's apartment on Rehov Jabotinsky in Jerusalem at 2 a.m., where she stayed until she found her own place.
LIFE SINCE ALIYA
While moving to her furnished room, she discovered among her possessions letters that her aunt had written on toilet paper from the Kielce ghetto to relatives in Switzerland. Shortly after she was deported to Treblinka where she perished in a gas chamber. Gerda translated the letters into English and had them published in the form of a book. Since then she has become a prolific writer.
To date she has had five books published. The last one, a novel titled A House in Jerusalem, is based on true stories of German Jews who came to live in Jerusalem and their experiences. She is presently writing her memoirs.
She lives in a retirement home in Jerusalem and leads an active social life. She has a very sharp mind, a delightful sense of humor, plays bridge, reads avidly, attends lectures, and gives private lessons in German. She is also extremely well-informed on daily events and watches all the television news broadcasts.
"I felt that only in Israel I could develop myself. In England I wanted to be an English lady but couldn't. In Israel I was able to start writing and I have not been bored for a moment. Above all, my Jewish identity is the most important thing to me."
LANGUAGE
Hoffer speaks English, German and a little Hebrew.
BEST THING ABOUT ISRAEL
In England, she always felt an alien. "In Israel I feel at home. I have something in common with everyone even with those with whom I have nothing in common."
ADVICE TO NEW IMMIGRANTS
"Don't try to change things when you are still new. Come here and learn, don't criticize. It'll take a few years until you really understand the country. Treat the first two years like a school. The quickest way of integrating is to volunteer."
To propose an immigrant for a "Veterans" profile, please send a one paragraph e-mail to:
upfront@jpost.com
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