My account of the voyage of the San Thomé owes a great deal to Dr. Margalit Bejarano, former academic director of the Oral History Division of the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She generously allowed me to use the transcripts of two oral histories she conducted in 1987 with passengers Lotte Burg and Emma Kahn, who had escaped to Cuba on the same voyage as the Günzburger family.
Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the United States Holocaust Research Institute at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, arranged with Sarah Ogilvie and Scott Miller of the museum to put me in contact with numerous former refugees who had been interned at Tiscornia. I was surprised to learn that the long-term detention of Jewish refugees there had never before been closely examined and, moreover, that no one could tell me where the one-time camp might have been situated. Not former refugees who had spent six hard months there, nor American or Cuban officials, nor scholars, nor anyone I consulted in several agencies that regularly deal with worldwide Jewish issues. The camp’s location appeared on no map, and guidebooks and histories shed no light on the matter. That I finally managed to stand outside its gates I owe to a marvelous Cuban woman whom I cannot name for fear of causing trouble for her. She led my mother and me to the barred compound—transformed into the Instituto Superior de Medicina Militar—where heavily armed military guards ordered us not to approach or take any pictures.
Maritza Corrales, an expert on Cuban Jewry, proved a remarkable guide in Havana. She took us to the places that Mother remembered and brought us to meet another alumna of St. George’s School who, after sharing recollections and yearbooks with us, succumbed to tears as she and Mom ventured to sing the old St. George’s anthem together.
In regard to Moisés Simons, musicology professor Robin D. Moore, now of the University of Texas at Austin, steered me to fascinating research that traced the Cuban-born composer’s mysterious lineage to Jewish immigrants from the Basque region of Spain. According to Dr. Moore, the musician—while living in Paris before World War II—quite likely changed his name from Simón to Simons to disguise the fact that his background was Jewish.
In Washington, Norman Chase of the periodicals collection at the Library of Congress helped obtain French and English newspapers from the late 1930s and early 1940s that sketched a first view of history. I was grateful, as well, to my esteemed New York Times colleague, William Safire, who entrusted me with large stacks of personal copies of The Times he had lovingly saved through the war and ever thereafter. Though their brittle pages risked damage from handling, he unstintingly urged me to use them, as was his way. For broader and deeper analyses of the period, I commend with gratitude and respect the dedicated scholars and historians whose works provided a firm and essential foundation for all that I wrote. I list many of their superb studies in the bibliography at the end of this volume.
I have been truly lucky over the years to be bolstered by dear friends who remained interested and kept faith for so long. Susan Goldart has been my treasured ally from the very first day—a trusted confidante, caring advisor, and nuanced reader. I have prized the heartfelt camaraderie of Naomi Harris Rosenblatt, who, as a writer, shared my adventure and lent her perspective, both as a biblical scholar and, like Susan, a psychotherapist with valuable insight on family dynamics. Barbara Wolfson and Harvard English professor Elisa New each read early drafts of the manuscript and provided astute observations. Anne-Marie Daris was a valued consultant on all things French: she checked my language, brought me Lamartine verses, and invited me to the mountains of France, where Roland had served with the Chantiers de la Jeunesse. Jean B. Weiner, our lifelong family friend, openly shared her memories with me. Kendra and Mark Sagoff, Miriam and William Galston, Margery Doppelt, Larry Rothman, and Rangeley Wallace comprised a responsive council of intelligent voices on intricate questions.
I am thankful to Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, our clergy, and all our wonderful friends at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, too many to name, who formed a circle of care that felt like a family and enabled two transplanted New Yorkers to feel at home in the nation’s capital.
Our incisive daughter, Ariel, read the whole book aloud and gave me important feedback. I was grateful to have her zesty prodding at moments when my energy faltered. She and her brother, Zachary, grew up with this book as a selfish sibling, and I am sure they are thrilled to see it kicked out of the nest. To my son, I extend a special measure of thanks for, second only to me, Zach lived with this book on his desktop. I am profoundly indebted to him for the countless late hours he spent reading and editing, reacting with eager delight to the task of weighing a problem of phrasing, regardless of every other demand on his time. Like Ariel, he brought to the manuscript a sharp eye, keen ear, and sensitive grasp of the story.
Finally, this book could not have been written without the vast and forbearing support of my husband, Dan Werner. He has endured its many fitful demands for time, attention, and travel. His only complaint throughout came on a visit to Gray, when he grumbled that the next time his mother-in-law felt compelled to escape, he hoped she might pick a more lively refuge. A journalistic advisor, technological savior, moral compass, and devoted partner, he has been unfailingly helpful and thoughtful in ways that would take a book to describe.
FAMILY TREE
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PHOTO CREDITS
Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following for permission to reproduce photographs and other images:
2.1 Stadtarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
2.2 Carls Fleischmann, Königl. Hofphotograph. Heilsbronn a/N., Germany
2.3 Tsohira, Germany
2.4 A. Dilger & Sohn, Rheinstrasse 30, Freiburg i. Br., circa 1900
2.5 Max Kögel, Heidelberg, Haupt-Strasse 118, Germany
2.6 Hugo Browarski, Freiburg i. Br., 1930
3.1 Stadtarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
3.2 Schmelzer-Nicolai-Verlag K.-G., Freiburg i. Br., Nr. 12
3.3 Stadtarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
3.4 Stadtarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
3.5 Photo & Verlag R. Benker, Papeterie Arosa, Switzerland, circa 1936
4.1 Postcard by Schmelzer-Nicolai Verlag, Freiburg i. Br. Nr/2461
4.2 Postcard by Schmelzer-Nicolai Verlag, Freiburg i. Br. Nr/2461
5.1 Leslie Maitland
5.2 A. Bernheim, Mulhouse, France, 1920
5.3 Carrière, Mulhouse, France, circa 1945
6.1 Rosengart advertisement from The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, volume 2, edited by G. N. Georgano, 2000. Provided by the Musée National de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France
6.2 Leslie Maitland
6.3 Chrétien-Vittenet, Gray, France, 1940
8.1 From Gray à l’Heure Allemande: 1940–1944 by André Fick, copyright © Editions Dominique Guéniot, Langres, France, 1998
8.2 Leslie Maitland
8.3 From Gray à l’Heure Allemande: 1940–1944 by André Fick, copyright © Editions Dominique Guéniot, Langres, France, 1998
9.1 Reproduced from La question juive en Europe, 1933–19
45, Editions Jean-Claude Lattès, 1985
9.2 From Gray à l’Heure Allemande: 1940–1944 by André Fick, copyright © Editions Dominique Guéniot, Langres, France, 1998
9.3 Reproduced from La question juive en Europe, 1933–1945, Editions Jean-Claude Lattès, 1985
10.1 From Gray à l’Heure Allemande: 1940–1944 by André Fick, copyright © Editions Dominique Guéniot, Langres, France, 1998
10.2 From Gray à l’Heure Allemande: 1940–1944 by André Fick, copyright © Editions Dominique Guéniot, Langres, France, 1998
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