To escape Nazi Germany, this St. Louisan had to leave her daughter behind for two years

Published September 14, 2021

Since 1979, Vida “Sister” Goldman Prince has been Chairman of the Oral Histories Project, at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. The project is dedicated to recording and preserving audio interviews of not only Holocaust Survivors, but also liberators of Nazi concentration camps and other non-Jewish witnesses living in Europe during World War II.

The museum was one of the first to begin gathering oral history projects so these voices and photographs will be displayed and future generations will continue to be witnesses to this catastrophic period of world history. In partnership with the Jewish Light, The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is allowing us to republish a portion of these Oral Histories project as a celebration of life and a crucial part of honoring and remembering the past. Please follow the provided links to additional recordings.

A Brief Bio

Alice Collin was born on August 5, 1904 in Augsburg, Germany. Mrs. Collin, along with her husband, a physician lived in Nuremberg, Germany. Dr. Collin wanted to leave as soon as Hitler took power in 1933, but Alice did not want to leave her parents.

One year later, when it became obvious that Jewish doctors would be unable to practice medicine and he could no longer work, The Collin’s fled, but could not take their daughter Marianne with them, leaving her with her maternal grandparents for two full years.

The grandparents were able to bring Marianne to the U.S. in 1936 to join them. Marianne was eight years old.