.avif)
Madeleine was born in Vienna, Austria, on September 21, 1936, to Shmuel and Sosia Fogel. She had a younger sister named Paula. The family were Orthodox Jews and lived in a comfortable apartment in a Jewish neighborhood. Shmuel worked for a large tailoring company, while Sosia prepared kosher meals for paying guests and rented out a room to a boarder.
In March 1938 the Germans marched into Vienna and annexed Austria.
1
During Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938, Jewish businesses were destroyed, synagogues were burned, and Torah scrolls and Siddurs were defiled. Though the Fogels were protected by their Hungarian passports, the Gestapo confiscated all their valuable belongings.
Fearing for their children’s safety, Madeleine’s parents decided to send her and her sister Paula on a Kindertransport to England in the winter of 1939.
2
3
However, when the train stopped in Belgium, their aunt and uncle took them off. Soon after, their mother joined them and found an apartment, supporting the family by cooking for money. Shmuel smuggled himself out of Austria and eventually joined them in Belgium.
The Belgian police arrested Shmuel, but the entire family insisted on staying together. They were imprisoned in Chateau Thierry, an ancient castle housing illegal alien.
4
After their release, they walked for three days, avoiding German airplanes, and made it to France. However, they were caught and placed in a detention camp, where they lived in stables with straw bedding.
When Germany and France signed an armistice, the Fogel family was released and reunited with Shmuel’s brother and his wife in Nice. Shmuel worked as a tailor, Sosia cooked, and Madeleine was able to attend school.
5
However, by early 1943, life became dangerous again. Sosia left Madeleine and Paula at a storefront, and they were placed in a Catholic boarding school under new names and identities.
On October 18, 1943, while Sosia was out shopping, Shmuel and six others were rounded up, sent to Drancy, and then deported to Auschwitz, where they were killed. Sosia survived by passing as a Hungarian Christian.
Life with the nuns was austere but safe.
6
Madeleine and Paula recited prayers, attended classes, and never revealed their true identities. In 1944, the sisters were taken to the Moulineux Valley, where the nuns had a summer residence. When the chalet caught fire due to nearby fighting, they were rescued by the French resistance.
In October 1944, the Americans liberated the area, and Madeleine and Paula were reunited with their mother in Nice.
7
It took Madeleine time to relearn her Jewish identity, and she continued her education. In 1951, Madeleine met and married Jack Goodman, an American, and moved to the United States. Five years later, her mother and sister joined them.
Madeleine and Jack had four children, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Madeleine Goodman interview at Katz Hillel Day School of Boca Raton - 2023-2024
Katz Hillel Day School of Boca Raton
