AHC interview with Malvine Spitzer.

April 24, 2018.0:00:24-0:12:34, 0:19:33-0:21:03, 1:06:06-1:09:51, 1:47:44-1:50:21 Childhood, especially schooling and how it changed in 1938 with the “Anschluss”0:12:47-0:19:28 Hillel Tauber’s (nephew) experience and attitude towards Germans (and Austrians) as a child of Holocaust survivors0:21:03-0:26:12, 0:32:25-0:34:41 Kristallnacht0:26:12-0:32:25, 0:34:42-0:36:10, 1:50:26-1:52:00 Preparing for the escape0:36:10-0:47:35, 2:00:44-2:01:3 Arrival and first years in the United States0:47:57-0:50:38 Contacts with Nazis and humiliation by the Hitler youth in Vienna0:50:38-0:51:44 Faith in God0:52:15-0:58:40, 1:00:12-1:05:32, 1:45:22-1:47:44 Parental home0:58:40-01:00:02, 2:22:25-2:29:11 Visiting Vienna and connections to Austria1:09:51-1:16:34, 2:54:15-2:57:07 Discussing family photos and documents1:16:36-1:18:29 Effect of the escape on the parents1:18:29-1:19:44 Maternal grandfather, Rabbi Josef Baumgarten1:21:37-1:23:06, 1:37:32-1:39:20 Parents Esther and Leopold Lederer1:23:06-1:35:29 Religious life in Vienna and New York1:35:34-1:37:30, 1:39:20-1:44:49, 1:52:12-1:54:14 Malvine Spitzer’s professional life and marriage with Joseph Spitzer1:55:23-2:00:44 Contact with the Königsberg family2:01:40-2:06:54, 2:51:27-2:52:37 News coverage and knowledge about the Holocaust2:08:25-2:11:22 US-American society2:11:23-2:12:38, 2:29:11-2:35:43 Political situation in the United States today (2018) and parallels to Nazism2:12:40-2:14:21 How the Nazi-persecution affected their personality2:14:24-2:16:44, 2:35:45-2:38:10, 2:43:34-2:46:08 Israel and anti-Semitism today2:16:45-2:21:32 Austrian Heritage Collection and the Viennese Group among the orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg2:38:12-2:43:29 Holocaust memorials and Eichmann-trial2:46:09-2:49:32 Children’s and grandchildren’s interest in Austrian background2:49:45-2:51:25 Bakery on the Lower East Side and a hotel in upstate New York2:57:09-2:59:46 Borough ParkMalvine (née Lederer) Spitzer was born on Dec. 16, 1929, in Vienna, Austria, the younger sister of Dina (née Lederer) Kupferstein (born Sep. 15, 1928). They grew up in a middle-class Ashkenazi- orthodox family with seven more siblings in Vienna’s 2nd district. They went to the Jewish kindergarten and elementary school “Jesod Hatora”. Dina continued school after the “Anschluss” in a so called “Judenschule” (Jew-school) on Vorgartenstraße. Their father Leopold Lederer had a bakery and was an active member at the Kultusgemeinde(Jewish congregation) and charitable Jewish organizations. Their mother Esther (née Baumgarten) Lederer was the daughter of Josef Baumgarten, who was a rabbi at the synagogue Wiener Schiffschul. She also worked in the bakery, which was closed after “Kristallnacht”. When the family tried to get papers to leave the country, a stranger from the United States, Benjamin Königsberg, who worked for the same organization as Leopold Lederer (Kollel Shomrei HaChomos Reb Meir Baal Haness), signed affidavits for the whole family. They left Vienna on Nov. 26, 1939 for Genoa, where they boarded the ship “Vulcania”, arriving in New York on Dec. 6, 1939. The family settled on the Lower East Side where they started a bakery again. Malvine and Dina had to work there every day after school. In later years, Dina became a substitute teacher and a bookkeeper. Malvine became a bookkeeper too, running a custom jewelry-business with her husband Joseph. They both settled in Brooklyn.Austrian Heritage Collectio

AHC interview with Dina Kupferstein.

April 24, 2018.0:00:24-0:12:34, 0:19:33-0:21:03, 1:06:06-1:09:51 Childhood, especially schooling and how it changed in 1938 with the “Anschluss”0:12:47-0:19:28 Hillel Tauber’s (nephew) experience and attitude towards Germans (and Austrians) as a child of Holocaust survivors0:21:03-0:26:12, 0:32:25-0:34:41 Kristallnacht0:26:12-0:32:25, 0:34:42-0:36:10 Preparing for the escape0:36:10-0:47:35 Arrival and first years in the United States0:47:57-0:50:38 Contacts with Nazis and humiliation by the Hitler youth in Vienna0:50:38-0:51:44 Faith in God0:52:15-0:58:40, 1:00:12-1:05:32 Parental home0:58:40-01:00:02 Visiting Vienna and connections to Austria1:09:51-1:16:34 Discussing family photos and documents1:16:36-1:18:29 Effect of the escape on the parents1:18:29-1:19:44 Maternal grandfather, Rabbi Josef BaumgartenMalvine (née Lederer) Spitzer was born on Dec. 16, 1929, in Vienna, Austria, the younger sister of Dina (née Lederer) Kupferstein (born Sep. 15, 1928). They grew up in a middle-class Ashkenazi- orthodox family with seven more siblings in Vienna’s 2nd district. They went to the Jewish kindergarten and elementary school “Jesod Hatora”. Dina continued school after the “Anschluss” in a so called “Judenschule” (Jew-school) on Vorgartenstraße. Their father Leopold Lederer had a bakery and was an active member at the Kultusgemeinde(Jewish congregation) and charitable Jewish organizations. Their mother Esther (née Baumgarten) Lederer was the daughter of Josef Baumgarten, who was a rabbi at the synagogue Wiener Schiffschul. She also worked in the bakery, which was closed after “Kristallnacht”. When the family tried to get papers to leave the country, a stranger from the United States, Benjamin Königsberg, who worked for the same organization as Leopold Lederer (Kollel Shomrei HaChomos Reb Meir Baal Haness), signed affidavits for the whole family. They left Vienna on Nov. 26, 1939 for Genoa, where they boarded the ship “Vulcania”, arriving in New York on Dec. 6, 1939. The family settled on the Lower East Side where they started a bakery again. Malvine and Dina had to work there every day after school. In later years, Dina became a substitute teacher and a bookkeeper. Malvine became a bookkeeper too, running a custom jewelry-business with her husband Joseph. They both settled in Brooklyn.Austrian Heritage Collectio

Biomimetic electrical stimulation platform for neural differentiation of retinal progenitor cells

Electrical activity is abundant in early retinal development, and electrical stimulation has been shown to modulate embryonic stem cell differentiation towards a neuronal fate. The goal of this study was to simulate in vitro retinal developmental electrical activity to drive changes in mouse retinal progenitor cell (mRPC) gene expression and morphology. We designed a biomimetic electrical stimulation protocol based on spontaneous waves present during retinal development, and applied it to retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) over 3 days of culture. Analysis of protein localization and calcium dynamics, indicate that mRPCs undergo functional neuronal maturation. Our findings suggest that this type of electrical stimulation may be utilized for application in neural tissue engineering and open possibilities for understanding mechanisms guiding active electric membrane development and functional organization during early retinogenesis