Transcript of testimony of Helga (Levy) Silbermann about her experiences in Berlin as a forced laborer at a Siemens plant in the vicinity during the Holocaust

Transcript of testimony of Helga (Levy) Silbermann about her experiences in Berlin as a forced laborer at a Siemens plant in the vicinity during the Holocaust Childhood in Charlottenburg—anti-Jewish measures from 1933 on; witness switches to a Jewish school in 1935; witness's daughter immigrates to Eretz Israel in 1936; witness participates in activities of Zionist organizations; vocational studies from 1938 on; family hides on Kristallnacht; family business and property confiscated; father falls ill; seeks ways to leave, unavailingly; witness participates in a hakhshara (Zionist training facility); returns to parents in Berlin; forced labor at a Siemens plant; parents deported in August 1942; witness finds a hideout with an acquaintance of her father's; stays in hiding from 1943 on; conceals Jewish origin; obtains a false document; moves from hideout to hideout in and around Berlin; air raids; battles in Berlin; liberation by Red Army forces; Red Army soldiers rape German women; American soldiers enter; witness works for American Army; emigrates to the United States in late June 1945; life in the United States. Also in the file: document with explanations associated with the Levy (Levi) family from Berlin. Submitter's remarks: The submitter's mother—Marga (Levi) Meyer, born in Berlin. Her parents: Martin Levi and his wife, Gertrud née Berger. Marga had a younger sister named Helga. Marga immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1936. Her parents and sister remained in Germany. Her parents perished. Helga survived in various hideouts and emigrated to the United States in 1945.