The Survival of Peter Goldsmith & The Free City of Danzig
Julia Mitchell
Co-Presenters: Esther Gonzales
College: The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major: Holocaust and Genocide Studies (M.A.)
Faculty Research Mentor: Sarah Coykendall
Abstract:
Before the outbreak of World War II and Nazi occupation, the Free City of Danzig existed as an independent city state, a free port located between Poland and Germany. Peter Goldsmith lived in the midst of this bustling city, spending his days at his father’s butcher shop or pharmacy. However, after the events of Kristallnacht, the first state-sponsored pogrom of the Holocaust, the Goldsmith family needed to escape as quickly as possible. After a harrowing arrest, a compassionate government official released the well-connected Goldsmith men and urged them to leave the country immediately. Despite the increasingly strict immigration laws and miniscule quotas to the United States, the Goldsmith family finally found a way to freedom and emigrated to New York City.This research is two-fold, evaluating the impact of Nazi rule on the Goldsmith family’s path to freedom, and the fate of their neighbors who were unable to flee Nazi terror. As Peter and his family journeyed to the United States, Nazi occupation of Danzig intensified through the establishment of the Stutthof concentration camp, the desecration of synagogues, and mass murder of entire villages and Jewish communities. This research will pair side-by-side the timelines of The Free City of Danzig’s fall to Nazi Germany, and that of Peter Goldsmith’s immigration to the United States.