| Paul Goldsmith
Born: July 12, 1913
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Apprentice, Young Immigrant
At age 17, Paul began work as an apprentice in Frankfurt as the Nazis increasingly hindered the abilities of Jewish workers to earn a fair income. Anyone who didn’t look “Aryan” was terrorized. As the Nazi Party gained power, Jews were also excluded from using the local hospital, public pools and parks. Paul recalled an atmosphere marked by name-calling and great violence, and said he felt “like a prisoner in his own country.”
At the age of 22, he was able to immigrate to the United States with documents supplied by an American relative. He left all of his possessions behind, arriving in the United States with only ten dollars.
Paul and his sister were the only family survivors.
He recalled, “We didn’t see what was coming. Nobody did. It was unimaginable.”
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