Nesselroth, Peter

Peter Nesselroth was born in Berlin on March 1, 1935. When the situation for Jews worsened, his family moved to Belgium when he was almost 4 years old. After Kristallnacht, his parents just couldn’t reconcile staying in Germany any longer, so they moved to Brussels. During this time, Peter couldn’t go to school, so his father taught him at home.  When his father was taken away, Peter and his mother went into hiding, and the young Peter grew accustomed to his new life. Peter and his mother would be taken into custody too – arrested by the Gestapo – but as Peter was ill, he was allowed to go to the hospital, from which his escape would be orchestrated.  At that time, he fled to Switzerland and was adopted by others. Peter is currently 83 years old and living in Toronto. Peter Nesselroth was interviewed for this project on January 11, 2018, when he spoke to English 8 and History 10 students