Growing up in Germany.

The memoirs are a recorded document of an interview conducted in September 2002. Description of family background. Her father Fritz Opel was a journalist from a non-Jewish family, her mother Else, née Liechtenstein came from a large Jewish family in Berlin. Her father was killed shortly after her birth during World War One. Recollections of early childhood in Berlin, where Marianne and her older brother Fritz lived with their widowed mother in modest circumstances. Summer vaccations in the family’s country house in the Riesengebirge. Marianne attended a boarding school in Letzlingen. After her graduation she dismissed her dream to become a doctor and accepted a position as a secretary in order to help supporting her family. Rising of Nazi movement. Her brother was arrested for political activities and served three years in jail. After his release he immedeatly left Germany and escaped to Switzerland. Marianne received a permit as a domestic help for New Zealand and emigrated in 1939.Marianne Haiselden was born in 1914 in Paris, France, where her father, Fritz Opel, was a news correspondent. After her father’s death during World War One she lived with her widowed mother and brother in Berlin. In 1939 she emigrated to New Zealand.See also Haiselden Family Collection (AR 11105)GermanyChildhoodEducation, primary and secondary, 1918-1933Germany, history, 1918-1933Professions and occupations, domestic hel