Tuesday, April 29, 2025
The Bristal at North Woodmere recognized the 69 years Fred and Elaine Zeilberger have been married and also honored Fred, a Holocaust survivor, with a surprise party on Wednesday.
Fred, 95, and Elaine, 89, married in 1956 at the Empire Hotel in Manhattan, celebrating with more than 200 guests. They lived in Cedarhurst for 64 years before moving to The Bristal at North Woodmere in October.
Elaine née Goldschmidt, was born in 1936 and grew up in Washington Heights, a historically German-Jewish neighborhood in Manhattan. She graduated from Long Island City High School and worked as a secretary before meeting Fred.
Fred was born in 1929 in Wurzburg, Germany. His father’s tailor shop was destroyed during Kristallnacht in 1938, and his family was forced into a Jewish ghetto. In 1941, they were deported to Latvia, marking the beginning of Fred’s time in five concentration camps. He was liberated in 1945 but lost his family in the Holocaust.
Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass was a violent riot conducted by the Nazi’s against the Jewish people of Germany in November 1938
Fred arrived in the U.S. in 1947, living in an orphanage before being taken in by relatives. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951, he served in the Korean War. After returning home, he met Elaine through a mutual connection. Their first date was at the famous Copacabana nightclub, and their bond quickly grew.
This story will be expanded in the March 13 edition.
