Berta Wallis née Matzer collection

Berta Justine Matzer (a Catholic), the donor's mother, was born in Vienna in 1913. She married her Jewish first husband Hans Wallis (1909-1994) in Vienna on 5th March 1938 (a few days before Hitler's Anschluss of Austria). The entire Wallis family, including Berta, desperately tried to emigrate elsewhere but did not succeed. Richard Matzer, the donor's uncle, who had been conscripted into the Nazi army, (with the help of some benign army colleagues) succeeded in smuggling Hans Wallis across the border into Switzerland (wearing a Nazi uniform). In Switzerland Hans Wallis was able to make contact with a Jewish charity which helped refugees fleeing from Austria and was able to settle there. Unfortunately this charity would not accept Berta because she was not Jewish and did not have any children. She returned to Vienna and divorced Hans in order to survive. Hans Wallis' sister, Lily, and her husband, Wilhelm Szidon, also managed to escape Vienna by emigrating to America. However, Hans' parents and brother Michael did not manage to leave Vienna. For a time Berta (being a Catholic) was able to help them stay under the radar but they ended up being amongst those who were transported from Vienna to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. For a time Berta was able to send them food parcels in Lodz and received a small amount of correspondence from her mother in law, Jolan. Berta eventually (in 1947) travelled to Ireland to visit two of her sisters with Jewish husbands who managed to emigrate to Northern Ireland which is where she met her 2nd husband, the donor's father. 

Donated 10.7.2023

Donor: Vivien Costello