Nora Friedlander (née Nora Schacht) was born on December 31st, 1908 in Zurich, Switzerland to Dr. Peter Schacht and Rosa Samler. Nora and her family were Jewish.
Nora was married to Norbert Friedlander on October 14th, 1930 in Paris. Norbert was a native of Iţcani, Romania, and was born on November 13th, 1906. Like Nora, Norbert was also of Jewish heritage. Once married, they lived together in Toulouse, France. Norbert worked as an engineer and Nora was a typist.
Nora and Norbert were part of the last wave of Jewish migrants fleeing the Holocaust. Nora arrived in the United States on November 12th, 1940 from Lisbon, Portugal on the S.S. Exeter. Norbert arrived several months later, on February 3rd, 1941, also on the S.S. Exeter. According to Blum et. al, by 1940, Lisbon was the last port of departure for the United States after the war caused all other European ports to be shut down for passenger service.
Nora’s point of contact in the United States was her first cousin, Harry Schacht, who was living in Manhattan in 1940.
The fate of Nora’s and Norbert’s parents during the war is unknown to this author.
In July 1941, Norbert was required to fill out a draft card; notably, the Country of Citizenship box has been filled out with a question mark, perhaps to reflect his status as a displaced person.
Both Nora and Norbert became naturalized U.S. citizens. Nora became a citizen on February 25th, 1946, and Norbert became a citizen on August 29th, 1946.
During the 1940s, their addresses included 146 W. 82nd Street, 205 w. 94th Street, and 552 Riverside Dr (all in Manhattan).
It appears that Nora and Norbert had a daughter, named Barbara Friedlander, as travel documents in 1949 indicate they were travelling with a Barbara Friedlander, who was 3 years old at the time.
Norbert passed away on July 7th, 1968 in the Murray Hill neighborhood in Manhattan, but his burial location is unknown to this author. Nora passed away on October 26th, 2000.
Nora’s obituary was written by a friend, Rebecca Osborn, and reads:
“FRIEDLANDER-Nora. Beloved friend. Died the morning of October 26, 2000. We will greatly miss her vitality, warmth and musicmaking, but her gentle spirit will always be with us. Rebecca Osborn.”
Citations:
- Blum, M. and Claudia Rei. “Coming to America: Refugees from the Holocaust.” April 18, 2016. https://canvas.harvard.edu/files/2209056/download?download_frd=1&verifier=VrscoAsdWoVjP4jinTbmyDjOjaL50WymToMRFC8b
- “Nora Friedlander Obituary.” New York Times. 29 Oct 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/29/classified/paid-notice-deaths-friedlander-nora.html?searchResultPosition=1