Irma Goldner née Schiff lived and worked only for a short time in Bad Kissingen as a cookery apprentice at the Hotel Herzfeld in Maxstrasse (today Bayerischer Hof), but we feel that contact with her descendants in the United States, whom we were recently able to find, appears to us nevertheless worth mentioning. It shows how important it is for many descendants, even after generations, to remember their ancestors, who were expelled from Germany. And how grateful they are, when the memories of them are kept alive in Germany and they can learn something about their family roots.

Irma's grandchildren and great-grandchildren today live in the USA and are now German citizens again. Even if they are still aware of the terrible events of the Nazi era, many of them visited Zeitlofs, where Irma Goldner lived with her family, and some of them also visited Irma's birthplace Oberthulba and Bad Kissingen.

We owe Irma Goldner's granddaughters valuable insights into the life of their grandparents and wonderful family photos, which can be found here and in the short biography.

Comments of Irma Goldner's granddaughters:

„What a surprise to receive your note about my Grandmother, Irma Goldner. What a wonderful project; despite the evil and antisemitism they were victim to." (Jill Goldner)

„Thank you for all your hard work over the years to restore some humanity to the lives lost; it is deeply appreciated.“ (Carol Hoffman)

„As a young adult I learned to speak German and spent a semester studying at a university in Germany in an attempt to understand our shared past. There, I got to know so many good people from whom I learned so much and yet we all still have to live with the terrible violence and pain of the past.

I tell you all this as a way of acknowledging the importance of your efforts.  After all this time, it is still a struggle to understand and to live with all this loss. William Faulkner said it best when he wrote, ‚The past is never dead. It's not even past‘.” (Lynn Goldner)

Look into the photo album:

"Ludwig was conscripted during WWI.  And ... it came as a shock to him that he would not be protected as a German citizen despite his service to his country." (Lynn Goldner)