Hasidic woman shares her amazing family story | Meet Gita Katz

This video is brought to you with the generous support of Fairfield University / Bennet Center for Judaic Studies.
The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies is a unique academic center that strives to enrich the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dialogue of Fairfield University. Continuing the vision of Carl and Dorothy Bennett, the Center fosters continued learning experiences and campus-wide awareness about Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances. It also seeks to engage the Greater Fairfield communities through inspiring lectures and annual programs.
www.fairfield.edu/undergradua...
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Gita Katz is a larger-than-life character. I got to know her through Pearl, the famous Hasidic woman whom I have had the honor of having on this channel before. In this interview, she shares what it was like to grow up in Hasidic Williamsburg in the shadow of the holocaust.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Also watch my interview with Gita’s son Ysoscher Katz 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqC5lHZrr5dnmZYsi=V0zsGYauSXL-E8kH

[@bettymaines6305]

I had watched this and had. I idea this was Gita’s son. I will have to rewatch it

[@lindaweigl3982]

I did watch this but I didn't realize that he was Gita's son. Another great interview. I watched it twice.

[@liseklerekoper2441]

I watched that video sometime ago and didn’t put it together that was Gita’s son. That too was a fabulous interview

[@PsalmS-vi8zl]

A big thank you to Frieda and Gita for sharing this important story with us. To think of a generation that grew up without grandparents is heartbreaking. A grandparent's love is very special.

[@sharonsterling2576]

Frieda you are a blessing to the Jewish community. Thank you for finding so many inspiring stories.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

😊

[@VioletACordy]

🌴🌴🩵😎🌈🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲🌴🌴🌲@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn

[@VioletACordy]

🩵💙🌈😇FRIEDA: G-D BLESS YOU🌴🌴🩵💙💜🌈😎I LOVE YOU & ALL YOUR BRILLIANT INTERVIEWS@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn 🌴🌴❤😎🌈🩵🩵🌴BEAUTIFUL 🌴

[@tennillepatterson5500]

Thank you, Frieda for bringing us these very important stories. It has never been more important.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, when I filmed this last year I couldn’t have imagined the kind of sad reality to which I’d actually publish this. I see so much terrifying hate now daily. Praying for a kinder world.

[@erpollock]

What's wonderful about Frieda Vizel is that, though she left the Hasidic community, she retains such warmth for the people. And they trust that she will portray their lives with kindness and mercy, rather than criticism.

[@ThunderAppeal]

Youre a fool. Frieda is self serving. She left the chassidic community but she cant stand the real world outside of that. She thinks too highly of herself, ask her a serious question and she will refuse to have a conversation because the believes shes on 'higher level' than us 'mere mortals'.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you, I feel immense gratitude that I get to exist in this grey area and people give me a chance to be a bit of a cultural translator. I think the warmth I have can’t be faked, and I’m grateful when people see it because then I feel seen.

[@mordechaiweinstock838]

You took the words out of my mouth! Totally agree... Frieda is the best!!

[@VioletACordy]

🌲🌲🌳🩵🩵🌈😎FRIEDA & GITA🌷🌷G-D BLESS U 🌴🌴🌴@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn

[@Tracey4therepublic]

I’ve been watching her channel for a very long time, and I am also impressed how she portrays the Chasidic community. May you continue to make such beautiful videos!!! הצלחה רבה

[@robertcoughlin4961]

Thank you Frieda for giving Gita a platform to tell the story. We need to keep telling it. If it happened once it could happen again. The veil between good and evil is thin and it doesn’t take much for humans to sink into horrific behavior. God forbid it. We must be strong and never allow it to happen again.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I feel this so strongly. I think we don’t even realize how thing the veil between good and evil is, and it’s so important to try to keep remembering to keep our hearts open to others.

[@SwamiMommy]

In my parents house as a child one always had to be busy. My mom was 13 the year she spent in Auschwitz. One day I said Mom the Holocaust is over! She replied it can happen again any time! Little did I know how prophetic her words were. I had 1 Grandparent survive out of 4

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

How heartbreaking, her words!

[@lindatohara6438]

Very cool

[@tijanamiljovska8395]

My goodness what a beautiful lady. Such an amazing life story. I hope she gets motivated to write a book of her life. So much to teach us about family, love, suffering and resilience. Thanks for the upload. I am moved

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, indeed, a very very beautiful woman.

[@samijo4519]

You can just tell by this short video that Mrs. Katz has a fun, spunky spirit. Thank you both for sharing.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I hope she’ll agree to more videos in the future because she’s a hilarious woman full of life!

[@stevenbarbaro9979]

Gita is a wonderful human being. Thank you for sharing her story.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you! It’s been incredible and joyous to be her friend.

[@user-pp5qe7wy9q]

This video is more important to me than any other video. People today do not know what kind of hell our grandparents went through. Thank you for bringing up the issue. We must never forget the suffering they caused the Jewish people.

[@yosefrapaport5544]

Her brother Y. was married to my sister ob"m. I remember her grandfather Reb Yisroel Yosef Krakower as well; my nephew is named after him. I also remember her husband from Montreal. Exactly the same story happened in my school in Satmar Montreal when one boy spoke of his Zeidy/grandfather and all the boys gathered around him awestruck. I still remember it vividly.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It’s an incredible mind blowing reality that captures the destruction of the Jewish community after the holocaust.

[@tourots]

Yup. My mother had one friend who's family had come to America before the war, she was the only girl in the class who had grandparents. My mother had no grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - both her parents immediate and extended families were wiped out. All murdered. Toward the end of her life I went to a doctor's appointment with my grandmother. The intern came in and started asking about medical family history. To every question my grandmother said "I don't know, they were murdered young". 😢

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

@@tourots 💔💔

[@rl42382]

Both my parents had grandparents which was unusual in the early 50s. My father was from London and his mother's family had come from Lithuania to Ireland and then eventually to England, and my mother family on both sides came to America from White Russia and Lithuania.

[@kp8740]

“Just because he blushes doesn’t mean you’re smitten”, amazing. Yet another outstanding interview with a fascinating person. I hung on every word. Thank you Frieda and Mrs Gita.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

She has a great perspective on love and romance.

[@fernandab2518]

Thank you Frieda, this interview made me think a lot about my long gone grandparents and uncles. Gita is so right, we need to keep our elders' memories alive and teach our young people about them. Their stories of survival and post-war lives are a source of great strength to me.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, thank you for the comment. I very much share the sentiment.

[@laurameisenhelter9186]

Documenting the lives of survivors is so important. Thank you, Frieda and Gita.

[@barbr100]

I was completely fascinated by Gita and her story.

[@dorisporch2733]

What a treasure hearing this conversation. The joy of laughter and friendship shines so bright after the stories of such horrible darkness... Thank you both... I won't forget your words.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you so much for watching.

[@andreabohnstedt7821]

What a powerful interview, Frieda - and what an unfathomable loss to live with!

[@dyanalayng5507]

Many thanks to you, Gita Katz and the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies for this video. Heartbreaking details; my heart weeps but this must be told and it must be heard. Thank goodness her grandmother's story can be told. ❤🇨🇦

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you so much for the comment. Gita is a beautiful soul and I’m so grateful she shared her story with us all.

[@alexandervanlohen4229]

Thank you, Frieda, for this touching video with Frau Gita Katz! You can’t stop watching and feel every minute of her life. I am so happy that she found this gentle and kind husband. May she and her loved ones be blessed.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Amen ❤️💝 a very blessed woman to have known such love.

[@dawnps5671]

These conversations are so important to document!

[@latinagringa]

What a true blessing to be able to hear this amazing woman's testimony and see her zest for life 💗 Thank you so much Frieda for spotlighting such wonderful people it's amazing how much knowledge, empathy, unity and laughter you bring through your videos!! כֹּל הַכָּבוֹד

[@bettymaines6305]

Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, Betty, so beautiful and so sad yet so uplifting.

[@annmariewalker3879]

Thank you, Frieda, for introducing us to Gita Katz!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It’s my honor. She’s an amazing human being!

[@HarryWeisskaimu]

Hi Frieda how are you ? Many people like this wonderful Gita have exactly the same history and story . All of us who were first generation children of holocaust survivors from the camps share a burden of being born to survivors. I may have grown up in the fifties in Williamsburg at the same time like Gita

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Hello dear Harry! You may have well lived in the same world as Gita! In fact sue has been Pearl’s friend for 50+ years!

[@carolinospelt2932]

🙏🏻 thank you Frieda and Gita, so much sadness and grief and so much joy and hope. May H-Shem bless you ❤

[@billducker7404]

Thank you Frieda for Gita’s wonderful testimony. Yes the secret things belong to HaShem. There are things we can’t know or understand! In the Book of Daniel what happened in the Burning Fiery furnace! May HaShem bless and keep safe this lady, her family and you and all that lovely Williamsburg Community. Trust in His name and cry out to Him even when we don’t understand Frieda. HaShem loves you all so much but He never said it would be easy. Gita bears testimony to this! Thank you for this wonderful bringing us these amazing testimonies Frieda. Bill over the pond🙏🇺🇸🇬🇧

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you for the wonderful words my dear Bill from over the big pond. I’m always happy to see your comments.

[@maralynfarber2068]

Frieda, this is such important information-thank you for the educational interview. Unfortunately, antisemitism is still around, and is worsening. And unfortunately, Jews appear to have always been scapegoats for any of society’s issues. We must hold our heads high as proud Jews. And I think it is important for Jews of all “persuasions” to try to get along. We have enough enemies outside the Jewish communities. With love, blessings, and gratitude, Maralyn in Virginia🩵🇮🇱🙏P.S. Your interview style is warm, respectful, & engaging.❤️❤️

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you dear Maralyn

[@rivkahmiri513]

Oh Frieda.... Thank you and thank you Mrs. Katz...What a treasure touching, touching.... one of the best interviews I've ever seen in my life...seriously... remarkable story and such a unique perspective!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Your words brought tears to my eyes.

[@PeaShaped]

Thank you for this .. My father was a Holocaust survivor. He would tap his numbers and tell us, "Never let this come to America" He told us the stories and as your guest describes, each time more details came to mind.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️thank you for sharing, I’m so touched by all your stories.

[@karenflam]

We must never forget!!!!

[@Zelde-M]

With gentle and curious questioning interviewer Frieda Vizel gives us insight into the life and history of Gita, a Chasidish woman with a big, charming personality. We learn intimate details of dark world history as well as bright moments of a loving family & community. Especially touching to me is Gita’s love and care for her husband Leiby, obm, and the revelation that out of her class of girls she was the only one to know a grandfather. Another must view interview. Shkoyakh!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Oh Zelde what a kind sweet comment. Indeed Gita’s love for her late husband is such a heartwarming beautiful thing to behold.

[@debbiestarks4975]

I am so humbled by this interview. I am equally humbled by some of the comments, children of survivors. Thank you for these stories that are so important in these days of war and ugliness of every kind. These stories you share remind me of seeing a single flower growing in a sidewalk...the strength and beauty of something in the midst of cold hard ugliness. ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I am so touched by your words. I am off to work and will take the visual of the single flower with me and draw hope from that image. Indeed, it’s hard not to carry a heaviness during a time of so much ugliness. Hope and kindness springs in the most unlikely places.

[@debbiestarks4975]

@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I knew a federal judge whose parents survived the Holocaust. I saw an exhibit of Auschwitz in Kansas City. I thought these things affected me, and they did. But not like your videos. Your videos hit me hard. I hope your week is filled with peace and all things good.

[@kippykate9905]

Hugs to both of you. Thank you for sharing real history.

[@Willow-rr5ui]

Thank you for bringing us Gita again. Her stories have such vivid detail. Appreciated.

[@jeffreyspencermd5408]

Allison and I were in Amsterdam, at the Anne Frank house this past week, on what would have been Annes 95th birthday, so this resonates with us even more so. Thank You for sharing this and keeping the memory of holocaust survivors alive. The Franks almost made it, they were on the last train to the camps -

[@calmbeforethestorm9498]

Frieda my dear, You have done it again. You find the sweetest women to interview. I felt like I was sitting around the table with you. The subtitles in time were perfect. Please send my appreciation to Fairfield Univeristy/Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. Here's to many more.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It does feel like you just sit with Gita, doesn’t it! You kind of want to pull up a chair and take a bite from the rugelach too!

[@hollyjobitner3285]

Miss Gita, I’ve stood with you in front of the shoes at the Holocaust Museum. I can still smell them in my mind. I also stood in the train car in the corner thinking about being squished with the community. I met a lady in PA with a number on her arm. I was crying and she was comforting me. She gave me her book, and her name slips my mind, but her face is in my heart. 💙

[@yvonnetitus8620]

54 minutes of a precious interview. I love your guests and their experiences. I also love how you let them just talk on, but then interject a pertinent question, often something I was wondering already. You and your videos are a treasure trove of enlightenment.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It takes sooo much time and energy to make these videos it means so so much to me that the voices of the people I share are heard. Thanks for watching and your kindness.

[@yvonnetitus8620]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn your videos are always a welcomed priority to watch among my others that are usually current events, politics, health. Yours are always uplifting.

[@liseklerekoper2441]

I can see why Pearl & Gita are friends. Both women show so much conviction in their faith, but seem like very strong, determined & intelligent woman who don’t sit quietly back. They both also have a great sense of humor!! I also love Pearl’s unconditional love for her son who left the Hassidic community. They both come across as a bit progressive sometimes, even though I know they are very traditional. It’s the way they carry themselves, I think. Yet another powerful & dynamic interview!!! I was excited when I saw you had put out a new interview. You have really developed your interview skills & are able to connect w/ your subjects in such a genuine, validating & respectful way. All of this is reflected in the quality & professionalism of your videos. Thank you for continuing to seek out people to interview who have such dynamic & powerful stories they carry & are willing to share w/ you.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you for such a beautiful comment. I feel like both pearl and Gita have such a zest for life and show that what might look like a typical pious lady from a closed culture, is often someone so much full of life, just life you and me!

[@123scrappygirl]

Gita and Pearl are very wise women. We should all learn from them and follow their words.

[@ohsusanna8042]

What a gift you have given us. To be able to listen and learn from these stories and experiences is precious. As someone who is not Jewish, I so value the fact that Gita has willingly and freely shared about her family for all of us. I believe we ALL have an obligation to humanity to never forget, and to always remember by continuing to tell these stories, so that it never happens again. God Bless❤

[@1BestCookie]

Wow!!! Amaizing the people you find to talk to when you listen with an open ear

[@PninaSuper]

Thank you so much Frieda for allowing us to meet Pearl and Gita.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Pearl and Gita have been friends for more than fifty years!

[@PninaSuper]

How blessed are we to have met them through you.

[@deborahgibbons3763]

What a wonderful video. Thank you so much for sharing this story. It should be shared widely.

[@westhoboken8167]

Gita's story shows how lucky those of us whose families came to America through Ellis Island before WW1 are,we all had loving grandparents who came here as young people and lived their life in freedom.

[@sarahgraves7860]

Thank you Frieda and Gita for sharing Gita's grandmother's story with 52,000 people who can honour her memory.

[@Mister69K]

What a beautiful interview! Thank you so much Frida for sharing Gita's story with us. And a thousand thanks to you Gita Katz for sharing your memories with us. They are with us now. Thank you.

[@D.N..]

Thanks for recording this testimony. Its extremely important that the last remaining eyewitnesses have their testimony documented so that future generations have points of reference and are able to sift The Truth from revisionist history

[@erpollock]

My graduating class in Bais Yaakov of 1969 had 22 girls, and 5 of us including me had American parents. The rest had European parents who spoke Yiddish. This was the norm in the 60s. The parents were survivors of the war. But parents never talked of what happened then. It was off-limits. My parents encouraged us to read memoirs by survivors that we got from the library. My grandparents, 3 out of 4, were fortunate to have come to the US well before the Nazi period. Only one grandfather was European, and he came from a shtetl (village) in Ukraine in 1910.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

My mother went to Bais Yaakov. So many of our mothers started there, surely some were your classmates.

[@erpollock]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn My Bais Yaakov was in Baltimore, not Brooklyn. We all know each other and many are friends to this day.

[@ashextraordinaire]

Ms. Gita, I'm so glad that you (and your children, and your children's children...) are here. Please don't ever stop sharing your mother's story. My grandmother was 15 when Germany invaded France, 16 when she joined the resistance. I can only hope that the people she smuggled to safety have flourished so well!

[@shawnsavage9341]

I loved that! I love those Jewish stories. Each one of us has a Jewish story.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

So well said, we each have a Jewish story!

[@_wesleyhome_]

Thank you SO MUCH for this! To a hundred und tzvanzig Gita!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Amen, thanks for commenting my friend 😊

[@ronaholub8531]

Thank you! You are performing a major mitzvah with your show!!! 👏

[@StarCityFAME]

Thank you for this wonderful interview. My Grandmother's side was nearly wiped out save for a few relatives back in Hungary. She managed to escape, also by luck. Our lineage goes back to Csenger, now called Szatmar. Whenever I am in the area of Hasidim in NY, I know that I walk among family. God bless you all.

[@StarCityFAME]

PS -- "Bullet-proof stockings" made me LOL! Thank you again!!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I never heard that Szatmar was once Csender! I will have to look into this more.

[@StarCityFAME]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn Bordering town to Romania. And poorest town in all of Hungary. My family comes from there. Hardly anyone survived. The son of the Rebe there (I think) started his congregation in Wmsburg, NYC... not certain of all the historical details. My grandmother was raised by her grandparents there. Her sister, BTW, was Miss Hungary 1933 (Gal Julia) who then escaped by way of traveling to Western Europe for pageants during the war, and then migrating to Argentina. She never told anyone including her family about her past.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

@@StarCityFAME that's an amazing family story. Is Satmar still considered the poorest?

[@StarCityFAME]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn I don't know really. But you know what I found out is that there is a camp or something literally called Farkastanya on Hid Utca (Bridge Street in English) that I believe to be the family pasture of my Grandmother's Grandfather, whose last name was Farkas. It seems on their website that someone by that name established that place recently, not Jewish at all... however, I think this is possibly to hide the fact it belonged to a Jewish Family before they were rounded up. The Jewish cemetery is nearby, and the river my Grandmother spoke about is also right there. I'm sure there is nothing I can legally do about it, tho, sadly.

[@surikatz123]

My favorite interviewer and one of my favorite aunts. Thank you for sharing the greatness that is Gita. May Hashem bless you both with long, healthy and happy years.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Awwwww Suri your aunt is such a special special person and I don’t need to tell you that! I don’t know how she is able to keep up with so much and so many people and things! What a personality, she always makes me laugh so much! Feels like a small world sometimes 😃.

[@kathym5307]

Thank you for sharing this sad story. We can NEVER let this happen again!!

[@marquisedetassony1879]

You are amazing my dear Frieda, thank you for your content. Here in Italy we are very educated on this subject, it is taught since the first years of elementary school even if it’s quite terrifying for a kid to learn these things. I couldn’t sleep well after learning that people there were put in ovens. One of of our best writers called Primo Levi ended his life at 80 due to the trauma he couldn’t heal. The Jews are cherished in my heart ♥️

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

That’s so heartbreaking and I think it’s why people like Pearl don’t want to tell the stories to her kids, to shield them. These are important stories to tell and yet they are also very hard stories to tell. I have a very hard time hearing them but it’s so important.

[@jennie5220]

Awesome story of Gita and her family history,Frieda. Just love you thank you, Frieda ❤

[@marlagross8061]

Frieda, this is an amazing interview. I can see your sincere interest and it makes the interview so wholesome. Please, please more of these with from Chasidishe women!! Job well done!!

[@catsun90805]

Thank you for posting this amazing interview.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you 🙏

[@sameoldsonganddance]

This was THE BEST INTERVIEW EVER!!!! Fantastic lady!! I could listen for hours and hours. I wish we could have seen photos of the Mother, Grandfather, the Husband the Siblings the Children, Grandchildren Great Grandchildren!!! I want so much more! Geta is a gem!❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

💝❤️💐❤️

[@user-jk1vg8tb6u]

Thank you so much Frieda and Gita! My family (both sides) came from Germany in 1938, but no one would ever speak about what happened to them or any one in the family before leaving. This video was wonderfully inspiring and heart-warming.

[@trexusification]

Wow. Thank you so much for this interview

[@marciamarcia1394]

Oh what a treasure she is!

[@MarqueMyWords2442]

Delightful. What a wonderful interview with a wonderful woman. Thanks to you both. I love to hear the stories and glimpse at her life.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you!! I hope Gita will be open to more in the future. She is an enormous character with an incredibly active life in the community.

[@MarqueMyWords2442]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn That would be a treat. She is clearly extremely bright and full of life.

[@minkagoldstein9228]

Frieda please please interview more survivors! Yu do a wonderful job.

[@ruthkrevsky3631]

Absolutely amazing!

[@bonniehart8527]

I so enjoyed meeting Gita and listening to the interview. So interesting! I especially enjoyed hearing her include the Yiddish and most appreciated your subtitles, as my understanding of Yiddish is very limited. I'm now about to watch the interview with her son.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Gita was unsure about the interview when she realized afterwards how much of it she lapsed into Yiddish. Your comment is gold, I will tell her!

[@sarahp3144]

Thank you for this very important interview. This is clearly a very strong woman who came from strong parents. Her faith is a wonderful legacy of what her parents gave her. Love to you both from a young Traditional Catholic in Indiana.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Love back Sarah, thanks so much!

[@janecornell4890]

I have wiped away my tears of sorrow and joy. You know how much this means to me, keeping the stories so no one forgets. What an amazing story. What a wonderful storyteller. I will never understand how people can be so cruel. We are blessed to have you Frieda and the people who are willing to tell their stories. I look forward to hearing more stories. Have you come across any stories relating to summering in Sharon Springs to partake of the healing waters? I have something in common with Gita. I lost my husband to cancer. I know how hard it is. Bless you both Frieda and Gita. Keep finding and saving the stories. We must never forget.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I’m so sorry about the loss of your husband. Gita’s lost love to cancer has indeed brought many tears to my eyes. I’ve heard so much of Sharon springs as a child and I don’t know much about it as an adult. Definitely something to look into.

[@janecornell4890]

There are KZbin videos on Sharon Springs that you may find interesting. I just came across a series a couple days ago. You should come up and visit this area before more is lost. I hope you come across a story from someone who has been part of the summer scene. I have heard that it was a well loved place. It must have been such a change in experiences from NYC! The slow pace, stars at night and clean crisp air can still be enjoyed.

[@user-yv3if4mt3q]

When this video came up on my feed, I wasn’t going to watch it. I didn’t want to hear yet another Holocaust story. ( I hope that doesn’t seem cold or selfish.) But I decided to give it a go. This story was uplifting in so many ways. I especially loved how she answered the question as to how she can still believe in G-d. She just says, “I don’t know”. So simple and so powerful. Thank you for this interview!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, I think many holocaust stories are just hard to listen to. Gita is so full of joy and there's so much resilience to her family life story. Incredible how many grandchildren her mother lived to see!

[@CatherineSunnysideJournals]

Thank you SO much, Frieda and Gita, for such an informative video. I learned so much. Gita is such a gift.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

💝💐

[@MosheGinsburgcoach]

I know the feeling of not having a grandparents. I grew up with only my immediate family.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

💔

[@aliciaweiss326]

As did I. These experiences are what led me to become a professional genealogist to reunite fragments of fractured families.

[@Libby_Jana]

HaShem bless all her ways ❤ Thank you for your hard work. Bless you.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you ❤️

[@kerricarpenter5110]

Thank you for bringing this amazing story.

[@charlenehind8394]

Thank you to Gita for sharing her story ❤ thank you Frieda having a space where these can be shared. May they never be forgotten. I had a smile when Gita said she read Catherine Cookson, this author is from my area of the world. 😊

[@MM-yh2mi]

These interviews are such an incredible gift and an important part of history. Thank you for capturing these stories. My grandfather’s family was from Czechoslovakia. I never met his parents but hearing these stories helps me understand a little more of my own family’s journey.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

My mother was born in Czechoslovakia. I hope to one day go back there and learn about our roots.

[@lesliekulik3693]

Lovely woman. She shared and educated people explains the human side of love, family and resilience

[@evelyngrammar]

Sweet, touching stories.

[@loopylou]

Thank you for this gift to us!!!! ❤❤❤❤ God bless you all

[@lilyarnaout7369]

The stories are always heartbreaking, and what’s even more so is thinking of the relatives I lost to the holocaust and whose stories I’ll never know 😢. Thanks Frieda for this interview with beautiful Gita!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Yes, so sad for every human who died so tragically and no one lived to tell their story.

[@luxurykoshervillas]

Thanks for another fascinating interview with Mrs Katz. She was friends with my mom and I knew her husband a’h.

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you so much! What a small world ☺️ I feel like I also know the whole family! I’ve interviewed Gita’s son Ysoscher here before.

[@aliciaweiss326]

This is the story of my family too in many ways, and that of far too many other families. I had chills when Gita told the story of her grandfather returning to find his daughter. Gita is wonderful; I would love to have coffee with her. Never again and never forget!!!

[@donnakearse2503]

What a beautiful story. God bless Frieda and this dear women.

[@joshberman9318]

amazing..yissocher Katz started his young married life on my next block..remember that smart satmar yungerman..well everyone deserves a second chance in life..

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

It feels like a small shtetl on here some days!

[@gittelkatz3853]

Ysoscher is my son.

[@joshberman9318]

@@gittelkatz3853 remember his early days in bp where we davened together in spinka-18,always learning,so I see u are definitely a proud mother and rightfully so ,that he's happy and u are happy at this stage of your lives.reaching out to miss vizel shows u have a healthy mind.we need more like u,most definitely.

[@amoraSvlogs]

Wow, amazing story to hear. Thank you so much for sharing ❤

[@phyllishershkowitz3806]

Thanks so much for sharing Gita's story with us. You do have a knack interviewing!

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you Phyllis. 🌼

[@dreamcatchersong]

What a truly beautiful lady, please thank Gita for sharing her story with us ❤

[@jackskelly18]

Loved hearing Gita's story about her family's experience during/after the Holocaust. And to hear that her husband still only cared about her well being, meanwhile he was dying

[@martinelanglois3158]

😭 Thank you Frieda for this wonderful, very moving interview. Also a big thank you to your guest. What amazing stories, told with a touch of humour to lighten things up just enough (particularly the mention of "bullet proof stockings"😂). And thanks for the translations via subtitles. ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Ha ha, glad you caught that one. Gita has a great sense of humor. I hope she'll agree to a day in the life video so the world can see how funny and warm and wonderful she is.

[@RachG]

What a wonderful interview. I’m so glad you have this platform for sharing people’s stories. Hearing Gita talk about her grandfather was particularly poignant…and hearing about her relationship with her grandfather. ❤ Gita’s family sound like good fun. Also, that was a great food selection on the table!! 🙃

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

I’m glad people are noticing the food. Gita is an amazing hostess!

[@RachG]

@@FriedaVizelBrooklyn ha. I mean, obviously the food isn’t the most important part. But it is important. 🤣

[@jerryedelman3581]

Simply amazing story of such strong people dealing with incredible horrors. These stories are so important for us to preserve for future generations. And in times like Israel & Jews are now going through it just shows us how truly amazing we are as a people to not only survive but ultimately thrive as a people & country. Thank you so much for telling these important stories that must be told.

[@howardandkimfaber4984]

An incredible story thank you Freida and Gita for sharing this Important Story

[@mlleEster]

This conversation is SO IMPORTANT, my family stressed the importance of learning about the holocaust and the war, I’m Spanish during the dictator ship both of my granddads were sent to war, one of them end up in a concentration camp when he came out he never was the same he turned an inward cruel man (I don’t blame him he was traumatised for what he saw) most young people do not learn about this any longer and we can’t let this be forgotten. My parents took me to see a concentration camp so I learned when I was young and the horrors weren’t forgotten, I remember the horrible sensation that would never leave me and I’m grateful for it because I saw the mistake I learned from the past.

[@monikatonsor9530]

Thank you for introducing us to Gita. And many thanks to her for sharing her story. I once read that “a remembrance” is also a physical action, not just an individual’s mental recall. Your conversation with Gita is a good illustration of what “a remembrance” looks like.

[@NancySimon-xm4wu]

Thank you Frieda, for sharing Gitas, Story. We should never forget. Love ❤

[@FriedaVizelBrooklyn]

Thank you Nancy dear.

[@ginamcknight8115]

❤️❤️❤️ I use to say with the Prime Minister NEVER again.😢Now I say oh Lord please not again.God bless the Jews in America and Israel and other locations🇮🇱🇺🇸

[@wofiewoof]

thank you for this......amazing amazing lady

[@jillclark6076]

That was absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for bringing her story to us. I hope you'll have Gita back to share more of her interesting life with us. Thank you so much for the wonderful content you bring to this channel. I wish everybody in America could see it

[@nastaranmsh2167]

Thank you for this. Happy and heartbreaking at the same time ❤