Testimony by
Kitty Schrott
In 1938, Kitty Schrott was only four years old and ignored the new prohibitions – without knowing it.
“I, of course, didn't know that we were doing something that was forbidden. ”
“When I was out for a walk with my father or grandfather, I was never allowed to stop at large gatherings. There were military parades and one made sure not to be part of them and to attract as little attention as possible. One day my mom came home, telling us that Jews were being forced to clean the sidewalk and that she had narrowly escaped.
As a Jew you were no longer allowed to enter the parks, not even the Prater. Liese, the daughter of Michael and Lotte Eisinger, was very pretty, about 20 years old and didn’t look Jewish at all. Even before 1938 we had gone to the cinema together and watched a movie with Shirley Temple – it was my first movie. Although Jews were expressly forbidden to do so, Liese went to the Prater with me for a merry-go-round ride. I, of course, didn’t know that we were doing something that was forbidden. Everyone was relieved when we returned unharmed.
“I lived with a certain feeling of fear, but, of course, I didn't understand what was happening.”
I also went to the Prater together with my dad and my cousin Inge once, but no one recognized us. Once my grandfather and I took a walk along the Prater Hauptallee, and I remember being chased away; I was five years old at the time. I lived with a certain feeling of fear, but, of course, I didn’t understand what was happening.”
Big photo above:
Kitty Schrott and her mother Etel Drill
Photo taken in:
Laa/Thaya, Austria, 1935
Interviewee:
Kitty Schrott
Year of interview:
2005
Interviewer:
Tanja Eckstein
Learn more about Kitty Schrott
Read the whole biography of Kitty Schrott here on the Centropa websitet.
See all photos of Kitty Schrott and her family here in the Centropa photography database.
Resources
Want to learn more about the November Pogroms?
The reports and films featured on this site are just a glimpse into the multi-faceted history of the November Pogroms in 1938. We’ve put together an extensive directory of resources to help you deepen your knowledge.
The image in the background shows a destroyed shoe store in Vienna on November 10, 1938
(Photo: Wiener Library/DöW F. Nr. 6392)
Further testimonies
Sophie Hirn
Sophie Hirn was nine years old when she experienced the November pogroms. She reports on how being excluded by the Nazis ultimately strengthened her relationship to Jewish tradition.
Kitty Schrott
In 1938, Kitty Schrott was only four years old and ignored the new prohibitions – without knowing it.
Edith Brickell
Edith Brickell was fifteen years old in 1938 and later wondered why her parents underestimated the threat posed by the Nazis.