Franzi Groszmann
Encyclopedia
Franziska "Franzi" Stern Groszmann (December 27, 1904 – September 20, 2005) was possibly the last surviving mother of the Kindertransport
. She sent her daughter (born 1928), now a writer known as Lore Segal, to England
following Kristallnacht
. Groszmann's husband, Ignatz, a Vienna
accountant before the Holocaust, died at the end of World War II
following a series of strokes.
Segal, with her mother and grandmother, emigrated to New York City
from the Dominican Republic
in 1951 and lived together in a small apartment on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan.
. Groszmann and Segal also appeared in Melissa Hacker's Academy Award-winning 1996 film My Knees Were Jumping.
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
. She sent her daughter (born 1928), now a writer known as Lore Segal, to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
following Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
. Groszmann's husband, Ignatz, a Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
accountant before the Holocaust, died at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
following a series of strokes.
Segal, with her mother and grandmother, emigrated to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
in 1951 and lived together in a small apartment on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan.
Media
Groszmann served as a consultant on the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the KindertransportInto the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport is a 2000 documentary film directed by Mark Jonathan Harris and narrated by Judi Dench. It tells the story of the kindertransport, an underground railroad that saved the lives of over 10,000 Jewish children...
. Groszmann and Segal also appeared in Melissa Hacker's Academy Award-winning 1996 film My Knees Were Jumping.