Gisela (Gitel) Finder née Grünfeld

Gisela (Jewish Gitel) was born on January 19, 1909 in Tarnow, Poland.

Her parents were Leo and Erna (Esther) Grünfeld. Both were engaged in the tailoring trade. In 1913, the parents moved to Berlin with their children Gisela, Adi and Mary, because they hoped to create a better life for their family in Berlin. The parents opened a custom tailoring and sewing supplies store on Lothringer Strasse (now Torstrasse).

The parents worked a lot, but life at Weinbergsweg 10 compensated them for a lot. The neighbors were Christian and Jewish, and it was a harmonious coexistence. The children played together in the yard and attended school on Zehdenicker Strasse.

On Gisela's 15th birthday, January 19, 1924, her beloved father died. Erna and the now four children had to organize their lives without their father from then on. But they had a strong mother who never lost heart.

Gisela met Hugo Finder and in the summer of 1930 they were married in the Oranienburger Strasse synagogue. Hugo's family was wealthy, they owned knitting factories in Apolda/Thuringia and ran a business at Schönhauser Straße 65. Gisela and Hugo were doing very well, they had a good apartment and even a car.

On October 21, 1933 Leo, called Leoschen, was born and actually the happiness was perfect, but Hugo separated from Gisela shortly after the birth because he had another one.