Family Record Project: Rodi Glass

Introduction: Rodi Glass is the daughter of Sophie Frederika Keizer and Meyer Waterman. She is a retired party planner and Holocaust survivor and Chicago resident. These are her memories.

Togetherness Was a Way of Life

Maternal Grandmother: Dinah Keizer-Rooselaar

Maternal Grandfather: Samuel Keizer

They played a big part in my life as we always lived close together before the war, were together during the war, and came to the US together in 1951 and lived together. They spoiled me as I was the first and only grandchild for 13 years. I loved them dearly and still miss them to this day.

They were married in 1904 in Amsterdam. He was a shoemaker. She was a seamstress. In 1905, they had their first child, a daughter named Estella. My opa was an innate smart man and wanted to own a business. He borrowed money to start a store, but there was a recession in Holland. He was advised to move to London. He did and the other five children were born there. Good thing because that was one of the things that saved our lives during the Holocaust.

In 1923, they moved back to Holland, and he started the business Keizers Lederhandel in Amsterdam. He owned the building and lived upstairs from the store. We went through the war and in 1951, they immigrated with my mother, father, and me to the US. They ended their lives in Miami Beach, where they are buried.

My Opa, The Hero

My Opa [Samuel Keizer] got us a paper that helped save our lives called the Diamond Sperr. He paid 11 x 120,000.00 guilders. He was taking a gamble as the man who sold it to him was in cahoots with the Nazis and could have just turned us in. That did not happen. My Opa is my hero of all times.

The Grandparents I Didn’t Know

Paternal Grandmother: Roosje Waterman-Dikker

Paternal Grandfather: Benjamin Waterman

They died before I was born. My dad loved his mother and said she was most beautiful. My grandfather was a diamond cutter and owned a café in Amsterdam. They had seven children. My father and his brother Maurits were the youngest and were twins. The whole Waterman family, except for my dad, were murdered by the Germans.

My Father, a Man of Fashion

My father was trained as a tailor. He was very good at being one, but once he married my mother, he worked in the family business. He loved to read, walk, dress smartly, and smoke cigars. I was the apple of his eye.

My Mother, A Skilled and Kind Woman

My mother was smart and aggressive. She worked hard in the family business. She loved to play Klaverjas and Bridge on Sundays. She went and combed her mother’s hair every morning before work. In later life, she became proficient at needlepoint and made beautiful canvases. She loved to make sure that I looked nice and clean when I went to school and was an excellent mother.

In Love Forever

[I was] married to Marvin Glass for 62 years.

When I went to Hyde Park High School in Chicago in 1951, I had trouble adjusting. The students were not used to foreigners in those years. I befriended a girl who told me that I should be going to the Prom. [I] had no clue what Prom was. She explained it to me and I told her it was not something I cared to do. However, she talked to her cousin and asked him to invite me. He asked her who I was and when she mentioned that I had just arrived from Holland, he told her that he was not taking a foreigner to the Prom.

As it turned out, I went with someone else. It was an OK night. A few months later, we received our report cards and I was invited along with a group to the beach. A young man seemed to keep looking at me, started to speak with me, and would not leave me alone. He called me for a date, and we never were apart from that time on. Guess what — he was the young man who refused to take me to the Prom. I always said that I made him pay for that for 62 years. We were in love forever.

Accomplishments, Adjustments After the War

[I’m proud of] having survived the war [and] having been educated as we had no school during the war. Getting used to living in the USA. Proud of my family.

[School was] difficult. Did not have many friends as I did not know how to have fun in those days.

Some of My Favorite Childhood Memories

It’s not a story for me to say that I loved my aunts and uncles and we were always together. When we came to the USA, each of my uncles had a car and we went out on Saturday nights to the movies and coffee afterward. Lots of laughs. My Marvin fit right in and ended up understanding Dutch but not speaking it.

…Just being together with my family. My fifth birthday in 1941 was the last wonderful birthday I had as our whole family was together for the last time.

What Technology Was Like

We had a telephone as we had a business. Most people did not have those. I had not seen a TV until I arrived in the USA in 1951.

Chicken Was a Treat

We ate lots of meat. Chicken was only on Friday night. Chicken used to be more expensive than meat.

The Joy in Life

I like to be with family and friends, volunteer and speak at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Museum in Florida. like to knit, read, talk on the phone, travel a lot, and make holiday dinners. I also owned a business for 43 years as an event planner. Always like to learn new things.

…I enjoy reading almost everything. Love family sagas, not one book in particular.

…The family reunion in 2016 was a magical experience. Phita [Stern] did such a great job putting it together.

Very Jewish

I am very Jewish. Love to celebrate holidays and will never deny my religious background. However [I] do not believe in G’d. Believe in making decent choices and to live by the 10 commandments.

What I Wish I Knew

I know a lot about my family, but there are always unanswered questions. I was not old or wise enough to ask my parents and family how it felt to be in camps and how it felt when we came back after liberation. Did not ask my father how he survived the loss of his whole family, etc.

Rodi at Work

Secretary, sales in my husband’s business, my own party planning business for 43 years.

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The Family Record Project: This project was started during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 to create a record that documents what day-to-day life is like for the people in our family, who they are, and what memories they cherish. Even if you’re a distant relative, I’d like to invite you to participate by emailing me at christinahlg@yahoo.com. Participants are asked to thoughtfully answer 20 questions and to provide photo(s). Responses are edited for style and spelling in an effort to keep the authentic tone of the participants.