Elsa, Manfred and Erich Eisner united in La Paz, 1944
From Munich to La Paz
Eyewitness Talk with Manfred Eisner (video recording available, in German)
In conversation with Aubrey Pomerance, head of the JMB archive, author Manfred Eisner talks about the life of his German-Jewish family and his childhood and youth in Bolivia.
recording available
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)
Manfred Eisner was born in Munich in 1935, the son of Erich and Elsa Eisner. His father was a conductor, pianist and composer, his mother the manager of a shoe store. In 1933, Erich Eisner was one of the co-founders of the Jewish Cultural Association in Bavaria and led its orchestra. On November 10, 1938, he was deported to Dachau concentration camp and was only released when emigration could be proven for him. He went to Bolivia via England, where Manfred and his mother followed him a year later. Erich Eisner was appointed founding director of the Bolivian National Symphony Orchestra in 1945 and led it successfully until his death in 1956.
Manfred Eisner spent his school years in La Paz and Montevideo, and was also active in the Zionist Youth. One year after the death of his father, he returned to Germany with his mother. He studied food technology in Berlin and has been an author since 2013. He has published the family chronicle Hated-Loved Germany and a fourteen-part crime novel series.
Manfred Eisner, photo: Fred Köster
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Video recording from 23 Jun 2025, in German; Jewish Museum Berlin 2025
With the support of Berliner Sparkasse.
Video Recordings: Watch Past Museum Events (86)
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Watch Past Museum Events
We film select events, such as conferences, panel discussions, book presentations, and our lecture series.
Event Series: Eyewitness Talks (17)
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Eyewitness Talks
In this event series eyewitnesses tell of their fates during the nazi era (video recordings available, in German, some of them with English subtitles)
