Chaja Ruchel Goldstein (2 July 1908 – 27 January 1999) was a Polish-born Dutch dancer and singer. The daughter of Jacob Schyja Goldstein and Laja Bromberger, she was born in a ghetto in

Rypin Rypin is a town in north-central Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 50 km east of Toruń. It is the capital of Rypin County. Population is 16,528 (2010). History Rypin was founded in the Middle Ages, and was part of Poland ...

. At the age of ten, she moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with her family. Goldstein began performing in 1931, dancing and singing

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

songs at a Jewish theatre. She lived with the painter

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

and had an affair with the Dutch artist Wijnand Grijzen. In 1933, with the rise to power of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s, she moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. There, she taught dance and gymnastics and also performed in theatres such as the and the

Kurhaus of Scheveningen The Kurhaus of Scheveningen, The Hague in the Netherlands is a hotel which has been called the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus The Hague since October 2014. It is located in the main seaside resort area, near the beach. History The Kurhaus was bu ...

. Goldstein joined the cabaret performing group . She also performed with Trudi Schoop's ballet company in various locations around the world. Goldstein appeared in an experimental colour film by Paul Schuitema in 1946. In 1948, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with her husband. She was not treated well there and stopped performing in 1951. Her husband became ill and she returned to Amsterdam in 1973; he died five years later. Goldstein emigrated to Israel in 1981. She married Theodor Johann Heinrich Güsten in 1937. Goldstein died in

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, Israel at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Chaja 1908 births 1999 deaths Dutch female dancers Dutch dancers 20th-century Polish Jews 20th-century Dutch women singers Polish emigrants to the Netherlands People from Rypin