Oral History Interview with Henry Kahn

Edith R. Levywas born in Vienna, Austria February 21, 1930 anddescribes her family as middle class and religious. Her father was a kosher butcher. She had an older brother. She briefly recalls her pre-war childhood, schooling and her early education. She describes her childhood memories of how things changed for her family after the Anschluss--Jews were not permitted in the local park, were ejected from schools, Jewish children were not allowed to wear certain Viennese clothes anymore. She describes an incident when her parentswere beaten up by Hitler youths and how Edith’s yelling attracted the attention of people in the local tavern who came to their aid. She also recalls her childhood memories of Kristallnacht, visceral memories of Torahs burning and how the father of her brother’s classmate told the S.S. that her family was not Jewish. She recalls several instances of abuse by Hitlerjugend and her father being hauled off to the police station. She details their journey to Antwerp with smugglers who extorted the families for more money at every turn.

Edith describes a harrowing journey when the family tried to flee to southern France and their train was bombed. They were forced to return to Antwerp. In January of 1941 they were deported to Waterschei (in a coal mine region) near the German border. The Nazistold the townsfolk that they were criminals but some townspeople did not believe this and helped them. In June 1941, the Nazis suddenly decided to releasethe women and children. Her father was sent to forced labor, but her mother got him released by attesting that they would leave Antwerp. They moved to Brussels and her father followed soon after. Her younger brother was bornin March 1942. She describes that they had to wear the star and were under a curfew. A few months later, her father received papers to “work”. The mother beseeched him to go into hiding but the father felt that he could secure his family’s safety if he worked. He was sent by train to “work” in France; they never saw him again. They found out after the war he was deported to Auschwitz and perished after 2 months.

Edith details the harrowing experiences of living in hiding in Brussels, the scarcity of food andassistance from a Jewish woman who helped her mother get eggs to sell. She details an instance when they were denounced to the Germans, butone German soldier gave them 30 minutes to get away. Her non-Jewish neighborhelped them reach Elizabeth Hoolmannwho found them a place to hide for the rest of the war. Ms. Hoolmann was designated Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in 1996.Edith describes how -- aided by the Jewish underground-- they would buy used sweaters, unravel and wash the wool, buy dye and knit sweaters to sell at the marketto survive.Edith emigrated to the United States in 1956.

Roland D. Turk1 was born on April 15, 1940 in the village of Clairevivre, near Perigueux, France. His parents and maternal family moved south from Strasbourg to evade the German invasion. His father, a Czech national, joined the Czech Army, was exiled in England until 1945 and then fought with the British Army in Normandy.

Roland wandered with his mother and her family through the Massif Central in the French highlands from 1941 to 1944. Traveling without papers and posing as Christians, they moved frequently. Roland articulates poignantly the instability of his early years, with his father absent and the constant need to hide Jewish identity.

In 1945, his family returned to Clairevivre. There, his father, on furlough, was seeking their whereabouts. By mere chance, he passed their house just as his wife opened the window shutters and discovered her husband outside. The reunited family moved to Clermont-Ferrand where they faced antisemitism and still hid their Jewish identity. They emigrated to the United States in 1951, where they were aided by HIAS and settled in Philadelphia.

Former first name was David. Last name was Turg while in France.

Emmi Loewenstern was born on February 19, 1925 in Emmerich, Germany. She briefly describes pre-war life: schooling and relations with non-Jewish Poles. The family was well known in the town. Emmi describes the change in attitude toward Jews after the Nazis came to power. She gives a detailed description of Kristallnacht, the damage done to their home by soldiers they knew, the imprisonment of her father.

In December 1941, Emmi and her family were deported to the Riga Ghetto in Latvia. She describes the journey and arrival in detail including hearing about the mass murder of the Latvian Jews by Jewish survivors still working in the ghetto. She details the lack of food, crowded conditions, forced labor, brutality and atrocities: people being taken out on work shifts and shot if they were caught stealing food. She discusses some holiday observances in the ghetto. She also describes an incident in October 1942 when some young Latvian Jews tried to bring ammunition into the ghetto, were caught and 39 were shot to death.

In November 1943 Emmi, her sister and her mother were sent to various places for forced labor: working for the German army at the Armeebiekleidungsamt [army quartermaster] sorting clothes of deceased German soldiers and in another (unnamed) camp. She describes how the young children were separated from their parents and never heard from again. In the fall of 1944, they were deported to Stutthof and then to Libau (Latvia) where they had to work at a shoe factory. She describes how they took the handkerchiefs off their heads during the trip to and from work so the townspeople would see how they were being treated. In February 1945, they were deported to Hamburg, Germany to Fuhlsbüttel (a subcamp of Neuengamme) where they had to label bags of spices. She describes the deplorable conditions of the deathmarch from Hamburg to Kiel where they had to sort bricks.

In 1945, they were taken to Malmö, Sweden via Denmark by the Red Cross due to the Bernadotte Agreement. Emmi contacted relatives in the United States and Sweden. Emmi emigrated with her mother and sister to the United States where Emmi married in 1947 and had two daughters.

Myra Davis, nee Miki Heller, was born July 12, 1936 in Kovno, Lithuania, the only child in an affluent Jewish family. Her parents were Franz and Fanny Heller. After the Russian invasion in 1940, her family was forced to move from their large home to much smaller quarters. In 1940, they immigrated to Japan with transit visas and visas for Curacao, which were not used. Instead, they went to Shanghai, in 1941, after a year in Kobe, Japan, where Myra attended a French Catholic school.

In the French quarter of Shanghai, they lived comfortably until the Japanese occupation forced them into the Hongkew Ghetto. Her father, despondent about their impoverishment, committed suicide. When the war ended, her mother worked for the American Army and met a Jewish colonel, David Bare (phonetic), whom she married in 1947. The family lived in Beijing, China, Linz, Austria and South Carolina, United States. Myra became a translator for the American government, married Arnold Davis and they live with their two children in Boca Raton, Florida.

Recorded at the Rickshaw Reunion - a meeting in October 1999 at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia of refugees who found refuge in Shanghai during World War II.

Alan Spiegel was born August 11, 1903 in Orahovicza, Yugoslavia into a wealthy Zionist family. He details his family history in Hungary including his grandfather being a Second Adjutant during the Hungarian Revolution. Mr. Spiegel studied medicine at Budapest University. He discusses the difficulty for Jewish students to be admitted due tonumerus clausus policy and that he was dismissed in 1920, three months before graduation by a prejudiced faculty. An ardent Zionist, he then worked for the Jewish National Fund while employed in a family business.

In 1932, he married Elizabeth Boschan, in Cluj, Romania, where they lived until 1939. In Budapest, he had to serve as a slave laborer under the Hungarians. Mr. Spiegel gives testimony about working with Rezsö Kastner and Joel Brand to exchangethe release of over 1,000 Jews to Switzerland for money in 1944 and how he found out from one of the more humane German officers that their transport was destined for Auschwitz even though they paid. He details how he arranged to bribe other SS to have the transport sent to Bergen-Belsen instead. Two months later, a smaller group of 350 was sent to Switzerland of which he and his family were a part. He discusses how Kastner was condemned in Palestine for his actions. Mr. Spiegel also shares a vignette about how he secured the release of hundreds of Jewish boys and how small meaningful occurrences helped him have the strength to continue his work. He also relates memories about theVizhnitzerRebbe.

In 1947, Spiegel emigrated from Switzerland to the United States with his wife and daughter.

Ida Firestone, née Hoffman, born February 19, 1929, in Pont-a-Moussou, France, attended public schools and studied music privately, aspiring to be a concert pianist. In 1942, her father was falsely accused of being a Communist and was sent to Drancy concentration camp. He was later released.

In March, 1944, Ida and her family went into hiding. They were sheltered by a teacher, a grocer, a baker, a prostitute and several farmers. Separated from her family, she posed as an orphan, working for a farmer’s wife who treated her cruelly.

Ida hid in forests and in a barn, sleeping with animals and stealing food to survive. Before liberation by the Americans in December, 1944, she found protection on the Gouy family farm. She had lost 25 pounds and suffered with stomach problems which persisted throughout her life.

Reunited with her family in 1945, Ida resumed her music studies and graduated from a conservatory. In 1948, she and her family emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, where she married Herman Firestone in 1949. She became a piano teacher and a Holocaust speaker in schools and synagogues.

YadVashem has recognized as Righteous Among the Nations Victor and CecilleHergott, Germaine Bour, Lucien Louyot, Emile and GenvièveThouvenin and Victor and Marie (Friboug) Guoy, who protected Ida and her family members.

Poetry and a letter to her mother written by Ida during her wartime wandering is included in this interview.