Celine Ehrlich

Celine was born in Amsterdam. Her maiden name was Kisch. She lived with her mother Christine, her father Alexander, and sister Jetti. Her father passed away in 1925. The family moved to Rotterdam and were living there when Holland was occupied in 1940. In 1944, her mother was warned of an impending arrest. A member of the Dutch underground disguised as a police officer met Celine on her way home from school and whisked her away to a safe house. She survived, moving through a network of safe houses in Holland. Her mother was arrested and taken to Westerbork and from there to Theresienstadt. In May, 1944 she was deported to Auschwitz/Birkenau and gassed. Jetti was working and living in another place before her mother was arrested. She was arrested and taken to Westerbork in 1943 and from there to Bergen Belsen. Jetti survived and settled in New York City. Celine's large extended family were all killed in the Holocaust. Most were gassed in Auschwitz/Birkenau. Celine was liberated September 1944 at Maastricht by the American army. She started working for the American Red Cross, where she met her husband, Robert Ehrlich, a native of Springfield, MA. They settled here after the war.

Celine has donated some important artifacts to Hatikvah. They include a first edition of Anne Frank's Diary (published in Holland), the yellow star Celine wore when Holland was occupied and some letters that were sent to her mother from relatives who were deported to concentration camps.

Return to Previous Page.