AHC interview with Marion Halper.

Abstract

October 18, 20170:24- 2:04 Memories of growing up in Vienna2:05- 3:20; 19:33-20:34; 21:10-21:25; 41:02-42:40 Father’s store sold via Postsparkasse3:23- 3:50 Emigration to England in 19383:51- 7:14 Parent’s occupation while living in England7:14- 7:54 English uncle and aunt7:56 – 8:35 Leaving Vienna in April 19388:36- 9:35 Going to School in the UK9:36- 12:53 Life and career in New York12:56- 13:40 Grandparents14:12- 16:45 Kindergarten in Vienna and English governess16:57- 19:31; 33:18-34:10 Religion22:14-23:02 Speaking German23:02-24:49; 34:36-36:53 Going back to Austria and visiting former store and apartment39:26-40:30 During the “Blitz” in EnglandMarion Halper née Klausner was born on April 27, 1933 in Vienna, Austria. She grew up as an only child with her parents and a maid in a large apartment in Schottenfeldgasse 25 in Vienna’s seventh district. She attended kindergarten in Vienna for a short time and then had an English governess. Her father co-owned a clothing store called Kleiderhaus Klausner & Liner in Reindorfgasse 34, in Vienna’s 14th district that he was forced to sell in 1938. The price for his business was determined by an Austrian buyer. Together with the grandparents on both sides, the family decided to go to England in April 1938, as Marion’s uncle (her father’s brother) and aunt, Assia and Joe Klausner, were British citizens living there. They lived in London through most of the bombing and decided to go to the US for better job opportunities as soon as the war was over. They came to New York in November 1945. Marion went to school, worked for the radio station WOV and then in an advertising agency and eventually became a realtor.Austrian Heritage Collectio