Love from the Gelbarts
For the past two days, I have been interviewing the Gelbart Family- Rose and Arthur and then tonight, I got in touch with their son, Michael! I am so excited to finally interview the whole family. My friend Cassidy passed their names to me and I had never heard of them until now. They have Oral and Video Testimonies — https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn700820 (Arthur’s Oral Testimony)
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn505013 (Arthur’s Video Testimony)
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn505014 (Rose’s Video Testimony)
Rose Gelbart, (born Grosman) was born on January 3, 1935 in Lesno, Poland. She was the only child to Sabina and Josef Grosman. She was hidden as a child. Rose’s mother was blonde and blue eyed. The family lived in Kalisz, Poland before moving to Rzeszow. When the ghetto was created, her mother, Sabina who did not look Jewish (as Rose told me that to the Germans, Jews had black or brown hair with brown eyes and long noses), was able to get her daughter out of the ghetto and hid her with a Polish woman. The arrangement did not even last a day, for Rose wanted to see her mother. The other time that Rose was taken out of the ghetto, when her mother was doing forced labor, and she was able to find a hiding place for her daughter. Her mother was a housekeeper, and when guests came to the house her mother was working for, Rose would have to hide in bedrooms, closets and other places. During this time period, Rose felt she was losing her Jewish identity. She said “I was not at the age when I could understand what being Jewish was. I did not understand how people could hate Jews. When I was being hid, I was not allowed to call my mother, mother. I had to call her my aunt or my cousin or something like that. I was an orphan that was at the mercy of those I was allowed to stay with for such a short time.”
When the war was over, she was sent to boarding school in Switzerland, until her American visas came in. They arrived at Ellis Island in New York, but took a train to Cleveland, Ohio. She got a job at a Bakery and someone asked if she would like to meet a man who was in the Armed Forces. She met a dashing young man named Arthur Gelbart. They were married in 1955 and as she said “Everyone who showed up came, and even people who were not invited came, there were about 300 people there!”
They’ve been living in Ohio ever since. Rose just turned 87 this year .
She has two sons, Michael and Jerry. She also has grandchildren.
Arthur (born Abram) was born in Klobuck, Poland on March 25, 1929. He was the third of four children. He had three sisters, all who survived the Holocaust. When the war began, his town was invaded. Out of his entire family, his sisters and he were the only survivors.
In December of 942, his sisters and he were sent to Blechammer, a sub camp of Auschwitz. His sisters were then sent to Langenbielau Labor Camp. Arthur stayed in Blechammer until January of 1945. He was forced on a death march, going to Buchenwald, where he was liberated on April 11, 1945. His sisters and he were reunited at the Weiden displaced person camp in Germany. They immigrated to the United States in March of 1947. They ended up in New York. Arthur was drafted into the Armed Forces and served until 1950. In the 50’s, he was set up on a date with a Polish woman, who also survived the Holocaust. It was Rose Grosman.
They were married in 1955. They’ve been married for almost 65 years.
They have two sons, and grandchildren.
Michael is a Psychiatrist and his brother Jeremy is a Psychologist. As Rose told me “I have two Shrinks!”
She texted me about 10:00 am this morning and asked me to call her. I texted her back saying “CALLING NOW.” She answered the phone. She talked to me for about 5 minutes. She texted me her son Michael’s number and email. She said “Call him!” I called and left a message, then I got a text saying from Michael saying he’d love to talk to me! I’m very excited! I usually have a really great beginning of the year when it comes to interviews, and now I’m starting that again this year! Last year were film star relatives, this year, Holocaust Survivors, and their families. I’m trying to interview as many people as I possibly can, for I know there aren’t going to be many to interview at some point.
Rose spoke to me and told me her story. I researched Arthur’s. I didn’t ask I could talk to him, because I think she read the letter I wrote and assumed it was just for her, but I told her son that I’m featuring THEM BOTH! They are both Holocaust survivors, and I want to tell their stories. Tomorrow will be an exciting day.
I have bought Arthur a little birthday card and I hope to get him a little goodie bag filled of things, I’ll have to mail to though soon- if I want it to be there in time for his birthday, which is on the 25th of March, 5 days after mine!
I already love this family, and I’ve only known them a few days!
