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Walter grew up the son of
an attorney in a '' not very religious'' German
speaking Jewish family. One of Walter's earliest
memories of anti-Semitism involves walking with a
group of elementary school friends, one of whom was
an Orthodox Jew. Several non-Jewish children passed
by and began to throw stones at them. As Walter
describes it, the so-called ''town idiot'' came by
in a cart, picked up the young Orthodox boy and
rescued him.
In 1938, Hitler took over the Sudetenland of
Czechoslovakia, and the Pole's took over Ziffer's
part of Czechoslovakia, Czech Silesia. When Walter's
father was no longer permitted to practice law, it
seemed that life could hardly be worse. Then came
Sept. 1, 1939 when WWII broke out. On that day
Walter recalls watching from the first floor of
their home as the German soldiers marched through
the town streets. And then the Gestapo appropriated
the first floor of the Ziffer's home as their
headquarters. After two weeks, the family was
evicted and forced to leave behind all of their
silver, rugs, furniture etc.
First, they moved in
with an uncle, followed by a series of four or five
evictions, until they ended up with only a small
suitcase of belongings. Lastly, in 1941, the family
and all other Jews were forced into
 a
ghetto which in this case was a huge farm with
various out-buildings, one of which - a dance hall -
was divided into compartments. Deportations were a
constant threat. All Jews were required to wear a
Star of David displayed on the front and back of
their clothing. For a time, his mother was still
allowed to shop outside of the ghetto. |
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Walter's Family in the late 1930's. Right to left-Emil
Borger* (maternal uncle), Oscar Borger* (maternal
Uncle), Jacob Borger (grandfather), Lydia Borger*
(Emil's daughter) [behind wheelchair], Hermine Borger
(grandmother), Edith Ziffer (Walter's sister) [above
left of grandmother], Else Borger* (Oscar's Wife)
[wearing hat], Arnold Weinberger* (Grandmother's
Brother), Ilse Borger (Oscar and Elsie's daughter), Otto
Borger (Emil's son), Walter Ziffer [wearing knees
socks], Anny Borger Ziffer (Walter's mother), Bruno
Berger (Anny's Brother) [moved to Asheville], Hermine
Borger*( Emil's wife) *Died
in Nazi concentration camp |
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