A Case for Release

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"They had applied for immigration, and they had quite a low quota number, but it seemed like people that had higher quota numbers were being called to immigrate, and they weren’t. And eventually my grandmother [father's mother] figured out that somebody, again, was taking graft to make it more comfortable for the ones with money to leave. And she went to Stuttgart, to the U.S. consulate, and told them that her husband and son had been arrested, and she had a four-year-old at home, and she was not going to put up with this.

She wanted them to assure her that in the next couple of months their number would be called. And she got the documents that she needed. And eventually my father was released after about three weeks in the prison. And then my grandfather was released about three weeks later than that."

Editor's Note: Susan's grandmother, Sabine Frieman Heinemann, managed to secure the documents that she needed from the U.S. Consulate to assure the Nazi government that her family was on track to leave as per Hitler's ultimatum following Kristallnacht. Fred and Solly were released from Dachau based on the presence of these documents, and based on Sabine's bravery and persistence.