Given name: David Family name: Gilbert Goetzel (3)

(1)

In Paris he met his wife-Sophie.
He and Sophie left Germany in 1935 to escape anti-Semitism and the Nazis. They moved to Warsaw, where they were married. Once there, they planned to move to a safer country, one further away from the Nazi threat. But their daughter Micki was born in 1937 and financial constraints forced them to delay their plans.
Two years later the war began and David vowed to bring his loved ones through the danger. He guided his wife and two-year-old daughter through the siege of Warsaw. He was eventually arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned for 8 months.
He left the ghetto in 1943 and went into hiding in the Aryan section of the city (first in a friend's apartment, than in Otwock). He was hiding separately from his family.
In July 1943 he took his family to the Hotel Polski. They were transported to a concentration camp - Bergen-Belsen. In April 1945 came the release and he travelled with his family to France.
In June 1945 he arrived with his family in Palestine.
On the advice of Sophie's doctors, he and Sophie divorced in 1946. After a year David met Liesel Hirsch, a German-born Jew. They married and a year later their son Raphael was born.
David decided to move his family to the United States in 1953. In 1955 his daughter Debbie was born. David opened his own business importing paintbrush handles. Debbie died in 1979 of dysautonomia, a Jewish genetic disorder. David sold his business in 1983 and retired. He engaged in public speaking about the wartime experiences.
Liesel and David celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1998. They decided to move closer to their son and granddaughters.
Every year, up until Sophie's death, Liesel and David travelled to Israel to visit her.

(2)

Mąż Sophie Goetzel-Leviathan.
W marcu 1940 roku trafia do więzienia za brak opaski na ramieniu. Przebywa tam przez 8 miesięcy. W styczniu 1943 r. opuszcza getto, ukrywa się w Otwocku. Żona i córka ukrywają się oddzielnie. W lipcu 1943 cała rodzina zgłasza się do Hotelu Polskiego w Warszawie, po czym zostają wywiezieni do obozu koncentracyjnego w Bergen-Belsen. Obóz ewakuują w kwietniu 1945 roku. Razem z rodziną wyjeżdża do Paryża, gdzie przebywa przez pewien czas, przed wyjazdem na stałe do Izraela.

(3)

Deported from Baden-Baden. Important person in Schultz's shop. During the round-up, he eliminated those whom he didn't like and gave the numbers to his protégés. After reoccupying shop's house at Leszno Street No 76 (after the return form the round-up), he assigned flats and was appointed the house's commissar.

(1)

In the source Pamiętniki Żydów; sygn. 302/231; w Archiwum ŻIH; title: Der Krieg von innen [The war from the inside] she appears as David Leviathan.

(1)

The memories of David Gilbert are written by Tim Shortridge and Michael D. Frounfelter.

(2)

Pamiętnik 302/231 w Archiwum ŻIH
Początek okupacji niemieckiej w Warszawie, rozporządzenia antyżydowskie(mąż autorki był więziony za brak żydowskiej opaski). Życie w getcie warszawskim, praca w szopie Schulza. W styczniu 1943 r. autorka opuściła getto, ukrywała się w Konstancinie i Milanówku, była prześladowana przez
szantażystów. Mąż i córka ukrywali się oddzielnie. W lipcu 1943
cała rodzina zgłosiła się do Hotelu Polskiego w Warszawie, po czym zostali wywiezieni do obozu koncentracyjnego w Bergen-Belsen. Opis warunków życia w obozie, ewakuacja obozu w kwietniu 1945 r., wyzwolenie i wyjazd do Paryża.
Autorka pochodziła z rodziny polskich Żydów mieszkających przez pewien czas w Niemczech. Przed wojną studiowała w Paryżu. Po wojnie wyjechałado Izraela.

(3)

Schmidt, Leokadia; Cudem przezyliśmy czas zagłady (We Miraculously Survived the Holocaust)

(1) 159-166, (2) 4-6,9-10,13-14,16-17,26-28,33-34,38-39,40-41,42-45,54-55,59,62-63,66-72,83-86,92-98,101-104, (3) s. 101, 103, 134