Min fars minnesbok
Bela from Güssing. The tale of an Austrian-Swedish Holocaust Survivor
Berth Rothstein, min far, kom som flykting till Sverige den 16 februari 1939. Han var född i byn Güssing i nuvarande Österrike, då en del av det Österike Ungern. 1938 flyr han från den nazistiska terrorn via Italien till Sverige. 1988 gav han ut sin minnesbok skriven på tyska. Eftersom mina två barn, Jonathan född 1986 och Isabelle född 1992, liksom deras fyra barn och många av mina kusiner och deras barn samt många vänner och bekanta inte kan läsa tyska, beslutade jag mig för att ge ut en redigerad version på engelska. Med stöd av mina systrar Eva och Rosie, min kusin Menachem (Freddy) Shoham och av min vän Sven Hort, lyckades jag få den publicerad. Här nedan är förordet. Boken gavs, tack vare Sven Horts insatser, ut på Arkiv förlag 2024. Nedan är mitt förord:
In 1988, at seventy years of age, my father Berth (Bela) Rothstein (1918–1995) published his memoirs in German. This is the story of his childhood in Güssing, a small town in the province of Burgenland (about 100 km south of Vienna), his escape from Austria to Italy after "Anschluss,” and his arrival in February 1939 in Sweden. It also concerns his situation as a “chalutz” immigrant, and how he managed to establish himself in his new country. Since very few of his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or other living (and future) relatives can (or will likely be able to) read German,
I decided – strongly encouraged by myson Jonathan Rothstein – to make his memoirs available in English. This edition is not a complete translation, because the original contains more than one hundred photos (with comments). Only a few of these photos are included in this edition. Most of the original photos have unfortunately been lost. Those interested in the photos must consult the original publication. The original book also contained copies of several public documents (such as the Balfour Declaration), copies of newspaper articles, lists of war victims, letters of recommendation, letters to and from various persons, and copies of handwritten letters and postcards. These are not found in this edition either. Otherwise my editing has been very lightand the words are my father’s. He included a number of lengthy citations from several historians who he thought had produced accurate analyses and interpretations of what happened at the societal and political levels during and after the rise of Nazism in Austria. These citations written in italics, are included in this edition. In the appendix, finally, some important documents that did not exist when my father wrote his memoirs have been added. I did the translation with the help of two computer programs: Google Translate and Grammarly. In technical terms, this has involved copying the pages of the original book and pasting them into PDF-files, converting these files into Word format, and then using the two computer programs. Peter Mayers have then corrected the language for this final edition. My dear friend and cousin Menachem Shoham, son of my father’s eldest brother Armin, has read the manuscript and offered many valuable comments and suggestions. Two other publications are also available about the history of the Rothstein family from Güssing. One is by Karl Rothstein (1932–2018), son of Berth’s eldest brother Armin.
Karl published his memoirs in 2009, under the title of From Kristallnacht to Israel. A Holocaust Survivor’s Journey (Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, ISBN 978-1608440634).
Another is a long interview (in German) by Berth’s younger sister Sofie Kobrinsky (1921–2012). Entitled “Ein wunderbares leben bis Hitler Einmarschiert is” [“A Wonderful life until Hitler Invaded”], it is available online. The published version (in German) is featured in
a volume entitled Vertrieben: Erinnerungen Burgenlandischer Juden und Jüdinnen [Expelled: Memoirs of Burgenland Jews], edited by Gert Tschogl, Barbara Tobler, and Alfred Land (Wein: Mandelbaum, 2004). An English translation is available on request (write to:
Bo.Rothstein54@gmail.com).
My father passed away very suddenly in 1995, when I was forty-one years old. I regret very much that I did not talk more with him about what happened and how he felt during his escape from Austria and his first years in Sweden. My sincere advice to readers is this: Talk
with your parents about their life experiences. Talk, talk, and talk some more!
Gothenburg, Sweden and Olivetta San Michele, Italy, September 11, 2022
Bo Rothstein
Bela from Güssing - Arkiv förlag