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50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany

Page 26

by Steven Pressman


  art exhibition hall (Kunstlerhaus), 174–75

  Auschwitz concentration camp, 168n, 251, 259

  Austria

  anti-Semitism, history of, 31–33

  currency restrictions, 158, 165–66

  German annexation of, 7–8

  See also Anschluss; Vienna

  Austro-Hungarian Empire, 26, 32, 33

  Axis-occupied territory, rescue risks, 251, 252

  Balderston, Robert, 223

  Balfour Declaration (1917), 170–71

  banned art, 174

  Belgium, passengers of the St. Louis, 211

  Beller, Leo, 31, 229, 237

  Beller, Mina, 31, 229, 237

  Beller, Paul

  about, 31

  after the rescue mission, 237–38

  on Anschluss, 49–50

  on lifestyle before Nazi occupation, 23

  placement of, 228–29

  relatives in U.S., 202

  selection interview, 126

  Berg, Alfred, 159, 238

  Berg, Charlotte, 159, 187–88, 238

  Berlin

  American consulate in, 100–101, 140, 142–43

  children in, 181–82, 185–88

  exit strategy. See exit strategy (emigration)

  as Gil’s initial stop, 100–102

  Jewish population in, 33

  “Jews Forbidden” signs, 143–44

  sightseeing, 140–41

  Billikopf, Jacob, 97, 99–100

  Blücher Palace, American Embassy in, 140

  B’nai B’rith, 77

  borders, sealing of, 8

  Brandenburg Gate, 140

  Braun, Johanna

  about, 24

  after the rescue mission, 238–39

  outlook on rescue mission, 177

  placement with Gil & Eleanor, 229–230

  on taxi to train station, 175

  Braun, Karoline, 24, 25, 239

  Braun, Martha, 24

  Braun, Max, 23–24, 25, 239

  Braun, Robert

  about, 23–25

  after the rescue mission, 238–39

  anti-Semitic school experiences, 42

  on Gil’s altercation with the SS officer, 181, 185–86

  placement with Gil & Eleanor, 229–230

  recollections of travel, 177

  on selection interview, 126

  on spoiled food dump at sea, 196

  on taxi to train station, 175

  on U.S. customs, 208

  on visa obstacles, 50

  on Yiddish/Hebrew music, 189

  Braunwasser, Inge, 227, 239–240

  Britain

  Jews, admission of

  passengers on St. Louis, 211

  unaccompanied children, 67, 232, 258

  policy toward Palestine, 170–71

  war declaration, 216

  Brith Sholom

  as American volunteer reliability, 254

  annual convention, 217, 231–32

  Collegeville setting, 213

  emergency meeting of, 75–76

  founding of, 16–17

  Kraus (Solomon), role in, 16–17, 20

  as rescue mission sponsor, 4–5, 53

  reunion, 239–240

  vitality of, 21

  brutality. See Nazis

  Buchenwald concentration camp, 43, 216, 244

  Budapest

  as getaway, 155–58

  Jewish population in, 33, 157

  Bürkel, Josef, 40

  vandalism of, 38

  Camp Kitchener, 194–95

  Catholic Church, anti-Semitism and, 31

  Celler, Rep. Emanuel, 70

  Celler-Dickstein proposal, 70

  Central Bureau for Jewish Emigration (Zentralstelle fur Jüdische Auswanderung), 40–41, 144

  Chagall, Marc, 174

  Chamberlain, Neville, 67

  Child Adoption Committee of the Free Synagogue, 78

  children

  attitudes toward Kraus/Schless, 191

  baggage for, 165–66

  behavior of, 195

  in Berlin, 181–82

  in Collegeville setting, 208–10, 213–15, 225–230

  custody transfers, 147

  departure details, 165–66

  documentation for, 145–46

  farewell reception, 168

  head tax for, 153

  illness, 158–59

  immigration law challenges, 9

  interviews at American Embassy, 186–88, 190

  letter writing, 214–15

  money from parents, 165–66

  newspaper coverage of, 199, 201

  ocean passage

  pitfalls, 166

  reservations for, 144

  tickets, proof of, 153

  travel, 192–97, 199–201

  ongoing contact with, 233

  physical exams for, 143, 186–88

  placement of, 225–230

  relatives in U.S., 202

  selection process

  consulate lists, 83, 105, 106, 124

  IKG role, 257

  interviews, 125–28, 136

  sponsors for, 10

  travel preparations for, 143

  See also unaccompanied German children, admission of

  children’s rescue measure. See

  Wagner-Rogers bill

  Ciano, Galeazzo, 183–84, 185

  Collegeville setting, 5, 208–10, 213–15, 225–230

  complicity in genocide, 251

  concentration camps

  about, 41

  arrests and, 43, 46–47, 48

  blueprints for, 231

  deaths

  Friedmann, Richard, 168n

  Roth, Hermann, 216, 244

  Seligsohn, Julius, 101n

  Stahl, Heinrich, 182n

  specific camps

  Auschwitz, 168n, 251, 259

  Buchenwald, 43, 216, 244, 259

  Dachau, 43, 49, 50, 125, 176

  Izbica, 248

  Sachsenhausen, 101n, 144

  Sobibor, 248, 253

  Theresienstadt, 168n, 182n

  visas and, 50

  Wiesel on, 259

  Congress

  anti-immigration sentiment in, 63, 65, 72–73, 221–22, 253

  Celler-Dickstein proposal, 70

  Wagner-Rogers bill. See Wagner-Rogers bill

  Coughlin, Father Charles, 69

  Coulter, Eliot, 63–64

  Cuba, Jewish refugees and, 210–11

  currency restrictions, 158, 165–66, 259

  custody transfers, 147

  customs inspections

  German, 191–92

  U.S., 201, 203

  Czechoslovakia, Nazi takeover, 117

  Dachau concentration camp, 43, 49, 50, 125, 176

  danger in rescue missions, 252

  deaths after arrests, beatings, 47, 48

  See also concentration camps

  “degenerate art” (entartete kunst), 120, 174–75

  Democratic political convention, unruly, 14–15

  dental care for children, 190, 209

  detention center, Nazi, 120

  Dickstein, Rep. Samuel, 70

  Dix, Otto, 174

  Dodd, William, 140

  Dollfuss, Engelbert, 170

  Drei Husaren restaurant, 131–32

  Duke of Windsor. See Edward VIII (King of England)

  Edict of Tolerance, 32

  education in Vienna

  after vom Rath’s murder, 46

  anti-Semitism in, 41, 42, 51

  Jewish school, 30

  private lessons, 26

  public schools, 28

  Schubert Schule, 25

  Edward VIII (King of England), 120–21, 132, 158

  Eichmann, Adolf

  bureaucratic maze of, 150, 152–53

  Hammond on, 133

  Jewish exit goals, 39, 40

  Einhorn, Samuel, 218–19

  emigration. See exit strategy (emigration)

 
Engel, Emil, 161–63, 211

  English Channel crossing, 100

  English lessons, 194, 195, 214

  entartete kunst (“degenerate art”), 120, 174–75

  Ernst, Max, 174

  Esther (Eleanor’s sister), 111

  Evening Public Ledger, on rescue project, 76

  exit strategy (emigration) of European Jews

  in Berlin, 101–2, 143, 182, 257

  in Vienna, 150, 167, 170

  of the Gestapo, 38–39, 40–41, 133, 144

  Nazi, 7

  expulsion of Jews, 31–32

  extermination camp, Sobibor, 248

  F. W. Woolworth department stores, 58–59

  Fannie (Eleanor’s sister), 112

  farewell reception, 168

  Federation of Jewish Charities, 79, 83

  Final Solution, 43, 216, 232

  financial support for children, 10, 127–28

  Fineshriber, William, 19

  Fletcher, C. Paul, 71

  Follmer, Cyrus, 143, 187–88

  France

  Paris, 115–16

  passengers of the St. Louis, 211

  war declaration, 216

  Franz Josef, Emperor, 26

  Franz Josef I, Emperor, 29

  Freud, Sigmund, 37

  Friedmann, Richard

  dinner invitation from, 167–68

  at dinner party, 162–63

  fate of, 168n

  German passports, assistance with, 150–53

  Friedrich II, Emperor, 31

  funding for rescue project, 6, 76

  Galicia, migration from, 26, 32

  Gallup poll, 232

  Galveston News, on quotas, 67–68

  Gavin, Mary, 112

  Geist, Raymond

  contributions of, 254–55

  feasibility confirmation, 64

  Hitler birthday wishes, 113

  list of children refused visas, 83

  meeting with, 101–2, 142–43

  Messersmith, correspondence with, 137, 212

  during Reichstag address, 118

  State Department cable to, 62–63, 93

  as sympathetic employee, 59, 89, 254–55

  Gellert spa, 158

  genocide, concept of, 251, 257

  German American Bund, 69–70, 70n

  German customs inspections, 191–92

  German Jewish migration, 14

  German-Jewish Children’s Aid, 76–77, 221, 224

  Gestapo

  exit paperwork, approval of, 150–53

  exit strategy focus. See exit strategy (emigration)

  Geist’s communication with, 137

  headquarters of, 39, 120

  IKG shutdown, 39

  Das Jüdische Narchrichtenblatt, transmittal through, 144

  as omniscient force, 121

  ghettos, Jewish, 31–32, 43

  Goebbels, Joseph

  as art exhibition organizer, 174

  Kristallnacht and, 46, 47

  Quaker rescue delegation and, 6

  Reichstag address and, 118

  Goldman, Blanche, 76–77

  Göring, Hermann, 38, 47, 132

  Great Depression, unemployment/immigration and, 68, 70, 72

  Greenfield, Albert, 15–16, 18, 21

  Greenfield, Carlotta, 4, 10

  Grynszpan, Herschel, 45–46

  Gundel, Karoly, 157

  Gundel restaurant, 157

  Haber, Fritz (Fred), 240

  Haber, Henry, 240

  Habsburg monarchy, Jewish loyalty to, 24

  Halote, Gerda, 240

  Hammond, Ogden, Jr., 133–34, 134n

  Hart, Parker, 134

  Hayes, Helen, 72

  head tax, 153

  Hebrew music, 189

  Hebrew Orphan Home, 78

  Hennings, Richard, 232

  Herman, Heinrich, 29, 240–41

  Herman, Kurt

  about, 29

  after the rescue mission, 240–41

  on arrival, 200–201

  Hitler’s motorcade and, 41–42

  on the President Harding, 189, 192

  at the train station, 175

  on visa obstacles, 50

  Herman, Martha, 29, 41–42, 241

  Heydrich, Reinhard, 46

  Hilfsverein, 143

  Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden (Aid Association of German Jews), 101, 181–82

  Himmler, Heinrich, 132

  Hitler, Adolf

  art exhibition, praise of, 174

  birthday celebration, 113

  dining room portrait, 122

  Holman on, 222n

  hotel preferences, 120

  paintings for museum, 150, 150n

  Reichstag address, 118

  shop windows with likeness, 123

  in Vienna, 8, 37

  Hitler Youth organization, 38, 42

  Hodgdon, A. Dana, 56

  Hohenthal, Theodore, 136

  Holman, Rufus, 221–22, 222n

  Holocaust

  indifference, excuses for, 257–58

  lives lost in, 211

  rescue dangers, 252

  statistics, 251

  See also concentration camps

  Hoover, Herbert, 70

  Horcher, Otto, 132

  Hotel Adlon, 100, 182, 184–85

  Hotel Bristol, 102, 120–21, 156

  Hotel Majestic, as Gil’s home, 18

  Hotel Metropole, Gestapo headquarters at, 39, 120

  Höttl, Wilhelm, 40–41

  Houghteling, James, 73

  Houghteling, Laura Delano, 73

  Hull, Cordell

  Holman’s letter to, 221–22

  immigration law changes, opposition to, 70–72

  Messersmith’s memo to, 58

  request for list of children, 82–83

  on visas complexities, 160

  Hungarian edicts, 157

  IKG. See Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (Jewish Community of Vienna)

  immigrant rights, Wagner and, 66

  Immigration and Naturalization Service, approval from, 255

  immigration laws

  British easing of, 67

  change, resistance to, 62–63

  children and, 9, 88

  editorials on, 67–68

  Messersmith’s defense of, 59–60

  as obstacle, 37–38

  policy fairness, 104–5

  public charge requirement, 70–71

  See also anti-immigration sentiment; Celler-Dickstein proposal; Wagner-Rogers bill

  Imperial Hotel, Hitler’s lodging at, 120

  International Order of Brith Sholom. See Brith Sholom

  interrogation, Nazi, 120

  isolationism, public policies and, 254

  Israel, identifying non-Jewish rescuers, 252–53

  Israel as Nazi-required name, 188

  Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (Jewish Community of Vienna)

  about, 32

  Engel as secretary of, 161–62

  exit strategy role, 39

  farewell reception at, 168–69

  interior of, 124

  rescue mission office in, 106

  support from, 257

  synagogue adjacent to, 123

  Izbica concentration camp, 248

  Jacobs, Eleanor. See Kraus, Eleanor Jacobs

  Jacobs, Harris (Eleanor’s father), 18

  Jacobs, Rosa (Eleanor’s mother), 18

  “Jewish Bolshevist” ideology, 174

  Jewish Community of Vienna. See Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (Jewish Community of Vienna)

  Jewish community (U.S.)

  backlash, fear of, 254

  immigration laws, resistance to change, 68–69, 70, 253

  rescue attempts, failed, 6

  Jewish migration

  1840s, 14

  exit strategy. See exit strategy (emigration)

  pogroms and, 9, 16, 32, 46–47

  post-Anschluss, 37–38

  Jewish Times, on rescue project
, 76

  “Jews Forbidden” signs, 121–22, 128–29, 143–44

  Jones, Rufus, 5, 81–82

  Joseph II, Emperor, 32, 124

  Judenrein policy, 39, 40–41, 50, 102–3

  Das Jüdische Narchrichtenblatt, Gestapo use of, 144

  Keller, Amalia, 241

  Keller, Robert, 214–15, 241

  Keller, Viktor, 241

  Keneseth Israel (Reform synagogue), 16, 19

  Kennan, George, 57

  Kenworthy, Marion, 222–23

  Kepecs, Jacob, 161, 221, 224

  Kindertransport, 67, 232, 258

  Kis Royale, 158

  Klee, Paul, 174

  Klein, Max, 20

  Kraus, Charlotte (grandmother), 14

  Kraus, Edna (sister), 15, 17, 20, 21

  Kraus, Eleanor Jacobs

  after the rescue mission, 233

  arrival home, 209

  during children’s interviews, 128, 136

  courtship and marriage, 18–19

  dinner invitation in Vienna, 162–63

  Ellen & Steven at the dock, 201–2

  emotional impact of, 147–48, 159, 168–69, 174–75, 178, 203

  employment, 11

  as fairy godmother, 191

  farewells, 98–99, 113

  hairdresser appointment in Vienna, 161

  hat purchase, 93–94

  lifestyle, 3–4, 11, 20

  misgivings, 6–7, 9, 10, 11–12

  panic, 173–74

  photo, 13f

  rumored affair, 21

  Sacks’ praise for, 218

  Schless as replacement for, 91

  as Tante Ellen, 147

  trans-Atlantic journey, 113–15

  travel preparations, 111–12

  views

  on self-satisfied faces of the “superior” race, 139, 141

  on taking children from mothers, 145, 147

  on travels in Germany, 3, 6–7, 9, 10

  wardrobe, 156–57

  Kraus, Ellen (daughter)

  birth of, 20

  death of, 234

  Gil’s telephone discussion, 110

  during parents’ absence, 112

  waiting at the dock, 202–3

  Kraus, Eva Mayer (Gil’s mother), 14, 20

  Kraus, Fannie, 14–16

  Kraus, Gilbert (Gil)

  after the rescue mission, 233–34

  altercation with SS officer, 181, 185–86

  anger at newspaper reporters, 201–2

  appreciation of, 168–69

  courtship and marriage, 18–19

  education/career, 17–18

  Einhorn’s praise for, 219

  family history, 14–17

  farewells, 98–99

  as father figure, 191

  interviewing children, 125–28

  lifestyle, 18, 97–98

  Messersmith correspondence, 53, 212

  photo, 13f

  plan conception, 4–5, 9–10

  post-arrival correspondence, 211–12

  request for Eleanor’s assistance, 109–10

  on rescue mission, 217, 219–220

  Sacks’ praise for, 218

  smuggling Jews into Palestine, discussion of, 167

  as social justice advocate, 13–14

  trans-Atlantic journey, 97–98, 100

  as Uncle Gil, 147

 

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