Testimony Summary-Edith Coliver

Edith Coliver was born July 26, 1922 in Karlsruhe, Germany and now resides in San Francisco. She was in a family with both parents and two younger brothers. Unfortunately her childhood best friend was killed in an extermination camp but they had a very peaceful childhood. Edith grew up in a large two story house but her family lived in the bottom floor. She had fond memories with her family in this house. In 1937, Jews were no longer allowed in public schooling and the Jewish and non-Jewish kids were separated.
After she was kicked out of school, Edith's parents sent her to London, England to finish her schooling. After a year of being in London, Edith's dad called and told her that they were going to the United States on American visas and she must go with them because a war was starting. They first went to New York and then through Panama and up to San Francisco. She graduated from George Washington High and made a lot of good friends right away.
Later in life she interpreted during the trials against Nazis for their crimes against humanity in the world court. She came to know around 800 people in the prosecution most of them Nazis. She even interpreted for Guring who was the most wanted war criminal after Hitler's death. She says he didn't take to kindly to a women and a Jew speaking for him. Garing looked awful because of the drugs he was taking before the trials. Unlike other high ranking Nazis who were hanged. Garing managed to kill himself with poison according to Edith. She had no idea how awful the termination camps were until the trials took place although she had visited concentration camps two years after liberation. She visited Germany with a sense of curiosity.

"These people were drilled into command. You would have 500 Jews standing there and the soldiers would be there with machine guns and mow them down and they would fall into pits and some were still alive."

"It was the most defining moment in my life." Speaking about the camps and the trials.