50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany (36 page)

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

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