Leonore Goldschmidt (née Zweig; 17 November 1897 in Gosda/

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– 7 March 1983 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England) was a German

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

who founded the

Goldschmidt School The Goldschmidt School was a school that existed in Berlin, Germany, in the late 1930s. It was founded by Leonore Goldschmidt, a German Jewish educator, after Jewish children were barred from attending public schools in 1938. Notable alumni incl ...

in 1935 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Biography

Leonore Zweig was the daughter of Wilhelm Zweig, a

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

owner, and grew up in a village in

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

. In 1916, she took her final school exams (

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

) at the Grunewald- Gymnasium (since 1946 ) in Berlin-

Grunewald Grunewald is the name of both a locality and a forest in Germany: * Grunewald (forest) * Grunewald (locality) Grünewald may refer to: * Grünewald (surname) * Grünewald, Germany, a municipality in Brandenburg, Germany * Grünewald (Luxembourg), ...

. From 1916 to 1921, she studied English,

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, and

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Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

and Berlin, and received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. In 1923, she married lawyer Ernst Goldschmidt. They had two children: Gertrud (1924) and Rudolf (1925). Leonore Goldschmidt worked as a teacher in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Berlin. In 1922, she was at the Cecilien-Schule in Berlin-

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The vi ...

, and from 1925 on, she was at the Sophie-Charlotte-Gymnasium in Berlin-

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. In order to improve her English language skills, in 1931, she traveled to England and studied at the

St Christopher School St Christopher School is a boarding and day co-educational independent school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. Established in 1915, shortly after Ebenezer Howard founded Letchworth Garden City, the school is a long-time prop ...

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

. There she met and befriended a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

couple, headmaster Lyn Harris and his wife Eleanor Harris. Their educational views, which included senior students being involved in decision-making and promoting freedom, shaped Goldschmidt's educational approach to teaching. Being Jewish, Goldschmidt lost her position in 1933. In 1934, she worked at the Privaten Jüdischen Waldschule Grunewald (Private Jewish Forest School Grunewald), founded and run by Toni Lessler, at Hagenstraße 56 in Berlin-Grunewald. On 1 May 1935, Goldschmidt set up her own school in Berlin-Grunewald, at Kronberger Straße 24. In 1934, her cousin ) had been murdered, and Goldschmidt received an inheritance with which she financed her project. The school expanded quickly and comprised four more buildings: at Hohenzollerndamm 102, 105–110, and Berkaer Straße 31. In 1937, the school had 520 students and 40 teachers. The Private Jüdische Schule Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt (Private Jewish School Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt) was granted an official licence to run Abitur exams in 1936. The following year, the school became an Examination Centre of the University of Cambridge. The

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

final examination enabled the students to enter English language universities in Europe and North America, making their

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

easier. When their school was officially shut down on 30 September 1939, the Goldschmidt family emigrated to England together with 80 students and some teachers. They reopened their school in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

and continued until May 1940. Afterwards, Goldschmidt worked as a teacher at several

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and state-funded schools in England until 1968. After her retirement, she studied

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and lived in London until her death in 1983.

Bibliography

* Martin Schönfeld: ''Gedenktafeln in West-Berlin.'' Editor: Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin e.V., 1993. * Holger Hübner: ''Das Gedächtnis der Stadt.'' Argon Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 1997,

Documentary

Goldschmidts Kinder – Überleben in Hitlers Schatten, ARD, 2017

References

External links

Account of a neighbourhood walk in Schmargendorf on 13 November 2004
(German)
Dr.Leonore Goldschmidt School by Gertrud Thompson (née Goldschmidt)

The teacher who defied Hitler
Documentary on

Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facilit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschmidt, Leonore 1897 births 1983 deaths Heads of schools in Germany Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom People from Berlin Schoolteachers from Kent