Local news article about the Kristallnacht ceremony in Münzenberg. Here is the translation:
No “one-size-fits-all” approach: This year’s commemoration by the town of Münzenberg and the Friends of Münzenberg Castle and Town was anything but an automated, perfunctory event. The focus this year was on the eventful life of Gerda Katz, a resident of Münzenberg who had to flee the Nazis in 1938 – a commemoration poised between hope, loss, and historical responsibility.
Gerda Frumkin, née Katz, fled Nazi terror to the USA at the age of 12. During the voyage, she met her future best friend, Edith Westerfeld from Stockstadt, only to lose touch with her again after arriving in the USA – for 72 years. Westerfeld’s daughter, Fern Schumer Chapman, wrote a book about her mother’s escape and mentioned her lost friend from Münzenberg. Following a school event, the students were so moved by the account that they began researching. With success. The two now elderly women were reunited in 2011. Their contact has never been broken since.
Petra and Uwe Müller (Friends of Münzenberg Castle and Town) explored the fate of Gerda Frumkin, née Katz, at the memorial event. Particularly moving was Petra Müller’s reading of Gerda’s passages in the first person, creating a personal connection to Gerda Frumkin that would otherwise have been impossible. The presentation was based on the book “THREE STARS IN THE NIGHT SKY: A REFUGEE FAMILY’S ODYSSEY OF SEPARATION AND REUNION,” published by Fern Schumer Chapman in 2018.
At the beginning of the memorial event, the attendees experienced a particularly emotional moment. Ann Sherman and Fern Schumer Chapman, the daughters of Gerda Katz and Edith Westerfeld, joined via video link as guests of honor. Chapman and Sherman were deeply moved that the memory of their mothers, and of the countless other Jewish victims of Nazi terror, is still being kept alive.
“Personal contact helps us understand that we are not talking about distant historical events, but that we are remembering people. People who laughed, cried, and lived—just like us,” said Mayor Dr. Isabell Tammer in her address.
Alexander Füller was responsible for the sophisticated and complex technology used for the video link across the Atlantic. Reiner Mohr and Angelika Herrmann provided the musical accompaniment, perfectly tailored to each part of the event. “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved for their tremendous support in preparing and carrying out this year’s commemoration,” said Uwe Müller (Chairman of the Friends of Münzenberg Castle and Town Association).
The Old Synagogue Cultural Center was packed. This impressively demonstrated how important it was for the residents of Münzenberg to send a message against antisemitism and racism, and in support of a free and democratic society. Numerous attendees approached Petra and Uwe Müller after the event, some visibly moved, to thank them for the evening. The participation of author Fern Schumer Chapman and Gerda Katz’s daughter was something very special.
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