Fred and Elaine Zeilberger celebrate 69th wedding anniversary
Fred and Elaine Zeilberger celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary at the The Bristal at North Woodmere on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
After Fred Zeilberger survived five concentration camps as a child, he met the love of his life..
Zeilberger, 95, and his wife, Elaine, 89, celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary Wednesday at The Bristal at North Woodmere assisted living center, where they moved in December after living more than 30 years in Cedarhurst.
Fred Zeilberger arrived in New York at 17 as a war orphan after he lost most of his relatives in the Holocaust. He was sent to concentration camps with his family in Latvia and Poland before he and his father were liberated by the Russians at the end of World War II.
He met his wife nine years after coming to the United States, in 1956, when he asked her out and picked her up in a hot pink convertible to go to a show and the Copacabana in Manhattan.
"We had a good marriage," he said.
His wife said it was "almost" love at first sight.
"Everything just fell into place," Elaine Zeilberger said. "This is how it has been, and it’s been good being married to him."
Elaine grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The Zeilbergers have two daughters and a son.
Elaine said her husband didn’t want to talk about his childhood, growing up in Germany and experiencing Kristallnacht in 1938, when the Nazis smashed his father’s tailor shop and the family was forced to move to a Jewish ghetto.
The family was among the first group of 200 Jews taken in 1941 to a concentration camp in Latvia. They would soon be joined by another 800 taken to the work camp.
Fred Zeilberger said his father survived by working as a tailor making uniforms for SS soldiers. The family, including his mother and younger sister, were separated when Fred and his father were taken to a different camp in Poland.
"Thousands of people were killed. Another transport came every other day from other countries, and then the next day they were gone," Fred Zeilberger said. "If you didn’t work, you didn’t survive."
He said that two days after they were liberated in 1945 his father died of typhus, which he had suffered from in the camp. Fred Zeilberger said he also was diagnosed with the bacterial disease.
When he returned to Germany, Zeilberger said he found most of his hometown destroyed and his family gone. He connected with other Holocaust survivors and eventually went to Ellis Island in 1947. He got a job as a wholesale meat seller and met Elaine.
He said he is still disturbed by his past, but in recent decades has learned to share his stories about surviving the Holocaust. He said it was important to know about his struggle and that of other survivors. He speaks at yeshivas and has recorded his story for a documentary.
"It upset me. Every time I speak about it, it brings back bad memories," Zeilberger said. "It’s time, because there aren’t many Holocaust survivors left. We hope it will never happen again."
The couple received a surprise anniversary party Wednesday morning at The Bristal complete with a singing duo serenading them during their first dance as about two dozen residents raised a toast.
"It just feels wonderful that we’re still together," Elaine Zeilberger said. "I thank God for him because he is well. Even at 95, he’s in great shape."
After Fred Zeilberger survived five concentration camps as a child, he met the love of his life..
Zeilberger, 95, and his wife, Elaine, 89, celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary Wednesday at The Bristal at North Woodmere assisted living center, where they moved in December after living more than 30 years in Cedarhurst.
Fred Zeilberger arrived in New York at 17 as a war orphan after he lost most of his relatives in the Holocaust. He was sent to concentration camps with his family in Latvia and Poland before he and his father were liberated by the Russians at the end of World War II.
He met his wife nine years after coming to the United States, in 1956, when he asked her out and picked her up in a hot pink convertible to go to a show and the Copacabana in Manhattan.
The Zeilbergers on their wedding day. Credit: Zeilberger family
"We had a good marriage," he said.
His wife said it was "almost" love at first sight.
"Everything just fell into place," Elaine Zeilberger said. "This is how it has been, and it’s been good being married to him."
Elaine grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The Zeilbergers have two daughters and a son.
Elaine said her husband didn’t want to talk about his childhood, growing up in Germany and experiencing Kristallnacht in 1938, when the Nazis smashed his father’s tailor shop and the family was forced to move to a Jewish ghetto.
The family was among the first group of 200 Jews taken in 1941 to a concentration camp in Latvia. They would soon be joined by another 800 taken to the work camp.
Fred Zeilberger said his father survived by working as a tailor making uniforms for SS soldiers. The family, including his mother and younger sister, were separated when Fred and his father were taken to a different camp in Poland.
"Thousands of people were killed. Another transport came every other day from other countries, and then the next day they were gone," Fred Zeilberger said. "If you didn’t work, you didn’t survive."
He said that two days after they were liberated in 1945 his father died of typhus, which he had suffered from in the camp. Fred Zeilberger said he also was diagnosed with the bacterial disease.
Opportunity in America
When he returned to Germany, Zeilberger said he found most of his hometown destroyed and his family gone. He connected with other Holocaust survivors and eventually went to Ellis Island in 1947. He got a job as a wholesale meat seller and met Elaine.
He said he is still disturbed by his past, but in recent decades has learned to share his stories about surviving the Holocaust. He said it was important to know about his struggle and that of other survivors. He speaks at yeshivas and has recorded his story for a documentary.
"It upset me. Every time I speak about it, it brings back bad memories," Zeilberger said. "It’s time, because there aren’t many Holocaust survivors left. We hope it will never happen again."
Fred and Elaine Zeilberger share a toast Wednesday. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The couple received a surprise anniversary party Wednesday morning at The Bristal complete with a singing duo serenading them during their first dance as about two dozen residents raised a toast.
"It just feels wonderful that we’re still together," Elaine Zeilberger said. "I thank God for him because he is well. Even at 95, he’s in great shape."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
