Robert Zweigenthal
Robert Zweigenthal is born in Pforzheim on January 12, 1908.
He initially lives with his parents, Armin and Irma, at Sophienstraße 48. In 1914, his brother Egmund Leopold is born. His father, Armin, runs a company for silver and gold goods at Durlacherstraße 42, exporting to several European countries and the United States.
From 1914 to 1917, Robert attends primary school in Pforzheim, then secondary school. After that he trains as a jewelry designer at the Municipal Goldsmithing School and later at the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. From around 1929 onward, he works in his father’s business.
ROBERT (SECOND FROM THE LEFT) AT WORK
After the Nazis came to power and antisemitic boycotts were imposed, the company’s turnover declined rapidly. Robert worked for a short time at the Emrich company in neighboring Mühlacker. His father, Armin, who was born in Czechoslovakia, was stripped of his German citizenship. In the end, the business had to be closed. In 1935, the Zweigenthal family left Germany and made their way to Prague.
In Prague, Robert and his father try to make a modest living by running a small costume jewelry business. After some time, his mother develops cancer.
Since Robert’s childhood sweetheart lives in Paris, he tries to reach France after the Germans march into the Sudetenland. In 1939, Robert receives a plane ticket to the French capital.
He initially lives in Paris and tries to make ends meet through odd jobs, as he is unable to obtain a work permit. There, he marries his girlfriend Elizabeth, who is from Hungary.
ROBERT AND ELIZABETH SHORTLY AFTER THEIR WEDDING
International developments grow increasingly tense. Robert joins a unit of the Czechoslovak army in exile. After the Wehrmacht invades Paris, Elizabeth leaves her apartment. Since she is pregnant, she tries to reach safety and flees to Agde in southern France. Robert follows her later in 1942. In October of the same year, Robert and Elizabeth continue their escape via Spain to Portugal, from where they make their way to New York.
ROBERT, ELIZABETH, AND THEIR SON ABOARD THE “S.S. CARVALHO ARAÚJO”
Starting over in a foreign country is difficult without knowledge of the language or the local area. During his first three years there, he again tries to earn a living through odd jobs. After the end of the war, he attempts to establish his own costume jewelry business, but initially without success. After working for three years as an employed designer, he finally sets up his own business in 1951. Robert now goes by the name Robert Zentall. The young family has another child: a daughter.
With the help of the Red Cross, Robert learns that his brother Egmund survived the war in the greater Prague area, partly in hiding. They are reunited in 1946. Edmund, who now bears the surname Zachar, immigrates to the United States with his Czech wife, Elizabeth Weisz. Robert’s father dies in 1955, before he can be reunited with the family. Robert will never see his mother again either; she had already died during the war as a result of her cancer.
Like his children and grandchildren, Robert Zentall lives in the United States into old age. On April 5, 1998, he gives an interview to the USC Shoah Foundation and recounts his life.
Autoren: „Geschichte aktiv“ Hilda-Gymnasium
Bilder: Privatarchiv Zentall (all edited).
