Names Not Numbers

Rosette Goldstein

Paris, France

In Hiding

1938

Rosette Goldstein

Paris, France

1938

Rosette Goldstein's parents were Polish Jews from the city of Lodz. They emigrated to Paris, France, where Rosette was born in 1938. Her father, serving in the French Army, later volunteered as a lumberjack for the French government, hoping to protect his family after the Nazi seizure of Paris.

In 1941, when Rosette was just three years old, her father asked a local farmer, the Martin family, to hide her.

She was brought to their farm by train and instructed to remain silent. During her time there, from 1941 to 1945, she didn’t attend school or change her name. Instead, she helped on the farm, doing chores such as washing clothes, churning butter, and taking care of the animals.

Initially, her father visited often, but he was eventually captured and sent to Auschwitz.

Tragically, he was murdered at the Langenstein-Zweiberg concentration camp near Halberstadt, Germany, on April 6, 1945, just before liberation. Because Rosette’s mother was also in hiding and could not visit her during the war, their relationship became strained.

After the war, Rosette went to a camp run by people working to create the State of Israel. It was there that her passion for her Jewish identity began to grow.

She was eventually reunited with her mother, but they never discussed the atrocities of the war.

In 1949, Rosette immigrated to the United States, where she lived with her mother’s family and trained as a pastry chef. She went on to have two children and five grandchildren.

Rosette remains active in the Child Survivors/Hidden Children group and is dedicated to holding the French National Railroad accountable for their collaboration with the Nazis during World War II. She has participated in the March of the Living several times, continuing to honor her heritage and the memories of those who were lost.

Names Not Numbers

Rosette Goldstein

Rosette Goldstein

The End