Stories tagged "Prewar": 114
Stories
Departing Rotterdam
"[Ruth and Hilde] eventually got to the hook of Holland, in Rotterdam, and they boarded a ship that took them across the English Channel and on to Dovercourt, England, and that was a summer camp with cabins, but they weren’t heated. And the crossing…
On the Border
"And then they went on with 1000 children on that transport.
They had a very harrowing experience.
And they got to the border of Holland and Germany. And the soldiers there-- the German soldiers-- they boarded the train. And they harassed…
Saschenhausen
"There was a knock at the door, and the Gestapo had said they wanted to see my grandfather. I believe he was still in bed. Well, they followed my grandmother into their bedchambers, and he got dressed hastily. They said he had to come with them. And…
Kindertransport
"[Ruth] got home [from her trip to Oldenburg], and the first thing she noticed-- there were swastikas all over her house. And it had been a beautiful home, and it was prominently centered in the middle of town, and then she noticed that all the…
Dachau
"So my father rode back to his house. And when he got there, my grandmother told him that my grandfather had already come home once, and she told him to go back out because they Gestapo had been by looking for him, and they wanted to arrest him. So…
A Baker's Delivery Boy
"My father was about eleven when Hitler came to power, and he had been enrolled in a school in Treuchtlingen, and was studying. And when he was 13 he became a Bar Mitzvah, and then the German government shut down the school that he was attending,…
A Long Journey to School
"There was a point in 1936 when the girls were not allowed to attend the parochial school anymore. My Aunt Edie, who was the oldest, was almost through with school there, so I think they made an exception. My mother, and Aunt Hiddie, and Ilse, had…
Bakers from Bavaria
"Well [my father, Manfred Heinemann] was born in 1922, and he lived in a town called Treuchtlingen, which was in Bavaria. And they lived a very comfortable life. My grandfather sold baking supplies. And eventually [my father's] brother was born in…
Deep Roots in Germany
"My [maternal] grandfather's family was in the cattle business... and he supplied the principality with the horses they needed for the town [of Cloppenburg]. He was very-admired and well-respected.There were about 15,000 people in the town. There…
Elected Mayor
“You and I may as well face the fact that our people now demand of us a right-about-face in the conduct of this government, and will stand for no petty strife or selfish political manipulation. I take office with a feeling of humble gratefulness to…