In 1990, a book by Judith Baumel, "Unfulfilled Promise" was published about OTC.
In 2000, Leonore Moskowitz and Iris Posner found the names of virtually all the children brought over and located about 500 who were still alive.
A three-day reunion was held in Chicago, Illinois, in 2002 with about 200 attendees
Britain had a similar operation called Kindertransport which is better-known, From 1938-1939, 10,000 Jewish children were removed from harm's way. VIVO, the Center for Jewish History in New York City is now the repository for the entire OTC archival collection.
Besides Wikipedia, you can find out more at www.onethousandchildren.org.
Quite a Heartwarming Attempt. --Cooter
Showing posts with label Holocaust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holocaust. Show all posts
Friday, May 27, 2011
One Thousand Children-- Part 1
Earlier this week, I wrote about the teenagers who got two ladies together who came to the US under this little-known program before and during World War II.
I had never heard of it and did some quick research on good old Wikipedia.
Approximately 1400, mostly Jewish, children were rescued from Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied or threatened countries. This was done by entities and individuals in the US. All came without their parents.
There is a One Thousand Children (OTC) organization whose primary goal is to explain and document this little-known part of World War II.
Some facts:
** Children came from Europe to US 1934-1945
** Aged 14 months to age 16
** Arrived unaccompanied by parents
** Placed with foster families, schools and facilities across the US
The first small group came arrived in New York City in November 1934. After that, about 100 annually came in small groups. Before 1941, small groups were the norm because of US hostility to foreigners during the Great Depression.
More to Come. --DaCoot
I had never heard of it and did some quick research on good old Wikipedia.
Approximately 1400, mostly Jewish, children were rescued from Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied or threatened countries. This was done by entities and individuals in the US. All came without their parents.
There is a One Thousand Children (OTC) organization whose primary goal is to explain and document this little-known part of World War II.
Some facts:
** Children came from Europe to US 1934-1945
** Aged 14 months to age 16
** Arrived unaccompanied by parents
** Placed with foster families, schools and facilities across the US
The first small group came arrived in New York City in November 1934. After that, about 100 annually came in small groups. Before 1941, small groups were the norm because of US hostility to foreigners during the Great Depression.
More to Come. --DaCoot
Monday, May 23, 2011
Teens Link 1938 Friends-- Part 3
The students then found another important clue, a 60th wedding announcement dated from last year.. The Madison teens then felt they were confidant enough to find Gerda Frumkin's phone number.
A call was left. Frumkin's husband Perry responded via email and then found Chapman's blogpost about her mother's search
The long-lost friends have since spoken several times by phone and plan to reunite in Seattle this June. O'Boyle says her students will be watching via Skype.
Hopefully, there will be newspaper coverage of the reunion.
That is amazing when you think that the students at Madison are about the same age as Gerda and Edith back in 1938. Who knows how many historians we are going to get out of this class of eighth graders?
Now, That IS Some REAL History, Not Just from Books. --Cooter
A call was left. Frumkin's husband Perry responded via email and then found Chapman's blogpost about her mother's search
The long-lost friends have since spoken several times by phone and plan to reunite in Seattle this June. O'Boyle says her students will be watching via Skype.
Hopefully, there will be newspaper coverage of the reunion.
That is amazing when you think that the students at Madison are about the same age as Gerda and Edith back in 1938. Who knows how many historians we are going to get out of this class of eighth graders?
Now, That IS Some REAL History, Not Just from Books. --Cooter
Teens Link 1938 Friends-- Part 2
I had never heard of this One Thousand Children Program so definitely will be doing some more research on it. On the cruise ship was where Edith Westerfield (then Edith Schumer) met Gerda Frumkin (then Gerta Katz) met. They quickly became inseparable. For ten days on the ship and three days in New York, the two formed a bond to fill the void of their families left behind.
In New York, they saw the Rockettes and Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at Radio City Music Hall.
They parted ways when Gerta headed to Seattle and Edith to Chicago, both to stay with family. They never met again, until now.
For 73 years, Edith Westerfield kept a photo of her friend she nicknamed Gertie. "21 Marz 1938. Zur Erinnerung Deine Freudin, Gertie Katz," theback of the photo read. "March 21, 1938. For remembrance. Your friend, Gertie Katx."
After Chapman's visit, Madison social sciences teacher Catie O'Boyle told her students that teaching the Holocaust always made her wish there was something she could do. Her students suggested they try to find Gerda.
Chapman had tried to do that as well but had been unsuccessful.
The students spent four days in the school's Learning Rsources Center using Google, Facebook and newspaper databases.
A clipping from a Seattle newspaper in the late 40s revealed that Gerda Katz was now Gerda Frumkin. An important find.
More to Come. --DaCoot
In New York, they saw the Rockettes and Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at Radio City Music Hall.
They parted ways when Gerta headed to Seattle and Edith to Chicago, both to stay with family. They never met again, until now.
For 73 years, Edith Westerfield kept a photo of her friend she nicknamed Gertie. "21 Marz 1938. Zur Erinnerung Deine Freudin, Gertie Katz," theback of the photo read. "March 21, 1938. For remembrance. Your friend, Gertie Katx."
After Chapman's visit, Madison social sciences teacher Catie O'Boyle told her students that teaching the Holocaust always made her wish there was something she could do. Her students suggested they try to find Gerda.
Chapman had tried to do that as well but had been unsuccessful.
The students spent four days in the school's Learning Rsources Center using Google, Facebook and newspaper databases.
A clipping from a Seattle newspaper in the late 40s revealed that Gerda Katz was now Gerda Frumkin. An important find.
More to Come. --DaCoot
Teens Link 1938 Friends-- Part 1
From the May 14th Chicago Tribune by Mick Swasko.
"Two who fled Nazi Germany as girls are reconnected by Naperville students' efforts.
Here is a group of teens who are getting a great history lesson.
"It was a brief email that rekindled an equally short childhood friendship 73 years ago." Gerta "Gertie" Frumkin is living in Seattle and the email made it to Edith Westerfield, 86, in Skokie, Illinois.
Determination and technical knowledge enable eighth grade students at Naperville, Illinois' Madison Junior High School, got the two together for the first time since they spent about two weeks together escaping Nazi Germany in 1938.
Edith Westerfield's daughter, Fern Schumer Chapman, had visited the students earlier this year to discuss books she had written about the 1930s, based primarily on the experiences of her mother who traveled to America as a twelve-year-old without her family.
Westerfield was part of a small and little-known American effort called One Thousand Children to remove Jewish children from Germany.
"This was a very quiet program," she said. They took ten kids out (at a time) on cruise ships."
"Two who fled Nazi Germany as girls are reconnected by Naperville students' efforts.
Here is a group of teens who are getting a great history lesson.
"It was a brief email that rekindled an equally short childhood friendship 73 years ago." Gerta "Gertie" Frumkin is living in Seattle and the email made it to Edith Westerfield, 86, in Skokie, Illinois.
Determination and technical knowledge enable eighth grade students at Naperville, Illinois' Madison Junior High School, got the two together for the first time since they spent about two weeks together escaping Nazi Germany in 1938.
Edith Westerfield's daughter, Fern Schumer Chapman, had visited the students earlier this year to discuss books she had written about the 1930s, based primarily on the experiences of her mother who traveled to America as a twelve-year-old without her family.
Westerfield was part of a small and little-known American effort called One Thousand Children to remove Jewish children from Germany.
"This was a very quiet program," she said. They took ten kids out (at a time) on cruise ships."
Friday, April 15, 2011
Jewish World War II Veterans Recall Fight-- Part 2
Howard Haas, 90, of Glencoe, says that one of his bombing missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but at the time he didn't know about the extent of the atrocities taking place below him. "We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Mr. Haas is the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
Even had they had the knowledge, they still wouldn't have attacked, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did."
Courtney Shanken, 89, of Highland Park was also at the University of Chicago and enlisted in the Army Air Corps with his twin brother Earl. He became a navigator and had 50 combat missions over Europe and was part of the Normandy diversionary force.
The Shankens bombed airplane factories, railroads and oil fields. Whenever the mission took them over German, Shanken removed his dog tags that identified him as a Jew, knowing that the Nazis would probably give him major mistreatment.
More to Come. --Cooter
Even had they had the knowledge, they still wouldn't have attacked, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did."
Courtney Shanken, 89, of Highland Park was also at the University of Chicago and enlisted in the Army Air Corps with his twin brother Earl. He became a navigator and had 50 combat missions over Europe and was part of the Normandy diversionary force.
The Shankens bombed airplane factories, railroads and oil fields. Whenever the mission took them over German, Shanken removed his dog tags that identified him as a Jew, knowing that the Nazis would probably give him major mistreatment.
More to Come. --Cooter
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Anne Frank Tree Toppled in Amsterdam
From the August 24th Globe and Mail.
On August 23rd, strong winds toppled the tree which besides age, was suffering from rot and moths.
The massive chestnut tree gave comfort to Anne Frank who wrote about it three times in her diary while hiding out from the Germans during World War II.
In 2007, Amsterdam ordered it cut down, but a global campaign saved it. In 2005 the Anne Frank Council decided to germinate seedlings from the tree.
Canada is getting a sapling that will be planted September 27th outside the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
A Part of History. --Cooter
On August 23rd, strong winds toppled the tree which besides age, was suffering from rot and moths.
The massive chestnut tree gave comfort to Anne Frank who wrote about it three times in her diary while hiding out from the Germans during World War II.
In 2007, Amsterdam ordered it cut down, but a global campaign saved it. In 2005 the Anne Frank Council decided to germinate seedlings from the tree.
Canada is getting a sapling that will be planted September 27th outside the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
A Part of History. --Cooter
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Jewish WWII Vets Recall Fight Against Nazis-- Part 2
The veterans who spoke last Friday at Highland Park, Illinois' Congregation Solel were Courtney Shanken, Howard Haas, Jack Heiman and Marshall Domash.
Haas and Shanken were among six local WWII veterans who received the French Legion of Honor last week in Chicago for their roles in helping to liberate France.
Howard Haas dropped out of the University of Chicago in his freshman year in 1942 to join the Army Air Force where he was a bombardier stationed in Italy bombing strategic positions throughout southern Europe. He completed his required fifty missions from June to December 1944.
One of his missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but, at the time, he didn't know the extent to which the atrocities had occurred.
"We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Even had they known, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did," said Haas, the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
More to Come.
The Greatest Generation. --Cooter
Haas and Shanken were among six local WWII veterans who received the French Legion of Honor last week in Chicago for their roles in helping to liberate France.
Howard Haas dropped out of the University of Chicago in his freshman year in 1942 to join the Army Air Force where he was a bombardier stationed in Italy bombing strategic positions throughout southern Europe. He completed his required fifty missions from June to December 1944.
One of his missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but, at the time, he didn't know the extent to which the atrocities had occurred.
"We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Even had they known, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did," said Haas, the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
More to Come.
The Greatest Generation. --Cooter
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Jewish WWII Vets Recall Fight Against Nazis-- Part 1
From the November 10th Chicago Tribune.
Four who had "H"-- for Hebrew-- on their dog tags to speak Friday in Highland Park" by Robert Channick.
When most people think of the Jewish experience during World War II, thoughts immediately turn to concentration camps and the Holocaust. However, that is not the whole story.
As Americans, Jews joined the military to defeat the Axis Powers. As Jews, they fought against the atrocities committed by the Nazis on their European brethren.
Some 500,000 Jews served in American forces and four have agreed to give a talk about their experiences in Highland Park. All are members of the Congregation Soleil in the city.
Deborah Dash Moore of the University of Michigan and author of "GI Jews" says "we only think about European Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. We don't think about American Jews and the ways in which military service was a response to the war and the persecution of European Jews."
Of course, I have to wonder how much was actually known about the Holocaust and Final Solution during the war. I have never found a definitive explanation. Obviously, the Nazis hated Jews and had done horrible things to them before the war, but, how much actually was known once the war commenced.
More to Come. --Cooter
Four who had "H"-- for Hebrew-- on their dog tags to speak Friday in Highland Park" by Robert Channick.
When most people think of the Jewish experience during World War II, thoughts immediately turn to concentration camps and the Holocaust. However, that is not the whole story.
As Americans, Jews joined the military to defeat the Axis Powers. As Jews, they fought against the atrocities committed by the Nazis on their European brethren.
Some 500,000 Jews served in American forces and four have agreed to give a talk about their experiences in Highland Park. All are members of the Congregation Soleil in the city.
Deborah Dash Moore of the University of Michigan and author of "GI Jews" says "we only think about European Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. We don't think about American Jews and the ways in which military service was a response to the war and the persecution of European Jews."
Of course, I have to wonder how much was actually known about the Holocaust and Final Solution during the war. I have never found a definitive explanation. Obviously, the Nazis hated Jews and had done horrible things to them before the war, but, how much actually was known once the war commenced.
More to Come. --Cooter
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Death Camp Liberator Looks Back
Mary Schmich in the April 14th Chicago Tribune.
We just recently observed Holocaust Day, a very sad day in the annals of history. On April 15th, Carl Levy and 119 other veterans were honored in Washington, DC, as liberators of German concentration camps. However, at the time, neither he or the others in his platoon thought of themselves as that.
There were "no grateful tears, huzzas or smiles, no cinematic fanfare," according to Schmich.
On that cool May 2, 1945, most of the men weren't sure what they were seeing. there was no warning from officers about what they were to witness. According to Levy, "In those days, a lowly infantryman was a lowly infantryman. There were no lectures on the grand scheme of things."
But Levy knew. he is Jewish and Jews knew.
there was a compound, guard towers, a wire fence and humans in striped uniforms, filthy and starving. Then, there were the corpses. They weren't cheering, "They didn't have the energy to cheer."
Levy later learned he was at a subcamp of the infamous Dachau. He didn't remember a smell, but in the ensuing weeks, nearby Germans told of the strange odor that would waft from the camp that came from the bodies being burned in ovens.
Levy believes that the men who came behind him and provided medical assistance and saved so many lives were the real ones deserving the honor he received.
Completely Unbelievable That Something Like This Would Happen. --Cooter
We just recently observed Holocaust Day, a very sad day in the annals of history. On April 15th, Carl Levy and 119 other veterans were honored in Washington, DC, as liberators of German concentration camps. However, at the time, neither he or the others in his platoon thought of themselves as that.
There were "no grateful tears, huzzas or smiles, no cinematic fanfare," according to Schmich.
On that cool May 2, 1945, most of the men weren't sure what they were seeing. there was no warning from officers about what they were to witness. According to Levy, "In those days, a lowly infantryman was a lowly infantryman. There were no lectures on the grand scheme of things."
But Levy knew. he is Jewish and Jews knew.
there was a compound, guard towers, a wire fence and humans in striped uniforms, filthy and starving. Then, there were the corpses. They weren't cheering, "They didn't have the energy to cheer."
Levy later learned he was at a subcamp of the infamous Dachau. He didn't remember a smell, but in the ensuing weeks, nearby Germans told of the strange odor that would waft from the camp that came from the bodies being burned in ovens.
Levy believes that the men who came behind him and provided medical assistance and saved so many lives were the real ones deserving the honor he received.
Completely Unbelievable That Something Like This Would Happen. --Cooter
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A Real Schindler's List
March 23rd Reuters.
A New York memorabilia dealer is offering what appears to be an authentic list of Jewish names known better as Schindler's List of movie fame and was kept by German industrialist Otto Schindler who is credited with saving over a thousand Jewish lives during the Nazi Holocaust.
The dealer represents a private seller who, unfortunately, wants $2.2 million for the document. That would make it almost too prohibitive for most public places to bid on it.
It is one of many lists Schindler kept during the war and had been in the possession of the family of his accountant, Itzhak Stern, which sold it to the private seller. Dated April 18, 1945, it is typed on onion paper, a carbon copy, 14 pages long with the names of 801 all male Jews.
Here's Hoping That Some Museum Is Able To Get It and Put It on Display. --Cooter
A New York memorabilia dealer is offering what appears to be an authentic list of Jewish names known better as Schindler's List of movie fame and was kept by German industrialist Otto Schindler who is credited with saving over a thousand Jewish lives during the Nazi Holocaust.
The dealer represents a private seller who, unfortunately, wants $2.2 million for the document. That would make it almost too prohibitive for most public places to bid on it.
It is one of many lists Schindler kept during the war and had been in the possession of the family of his accountant, Itzhak Stern, which sold it to the private seller. Dated April 18, 1945, it is typed on onion paper, a carbon copy, 14 pages long with the names of 801 all male Jews.
Here's Hoping That Some Museum Is Able To Get It and Put It on Display. --Cooter
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Britons Who Saved Holocaust Victims Honored
From March 10th Mail Online.com.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown honored two surviving Britons, Sir Nicholas Winton and Denis Avey, for their roles in saving intended Nazi victims of the Holocaust.
Sir Winton, 100, rescued 669 mainly Jewish children from a train in Prague in 1939. Avey, 91, exchanged places with a Jewish inmate at Auschwitz while a POW. After that, he gathered facts about the horror and helped another inmate survive by sharing supplies.
Others Britons were honored posthumously.
Phylis le Drruillence's husband Harold sheltered Russian prisoners during the German occupation of Jersey.
All these people received the Silver Medallion.
About Time. --Cooter
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown honored two surviving Britons, Sir Nicholas Winton and Denis Avey, for their roles in saving intended Nazi victims of the Holocaust.
Sir Winton, 100, rescued 669 mainly Jewish children from a train in Prague in 1939. Avey, 91, exchanged places with a Jewish inmate at Auschwitz while a POW. After that, he gathered facts about the horror and helped another inmate survive by sharing supplies.
Others Britons were honored posthumously.
Phylis le Drruillence's husband Harold sheltered Russian prisoners during the German occupation of Jersey.
All these people received the Silver Medallion.
About Time. --Cooter
Friday, January 18, 2008
Holocaust Survivors Gain Access
Historians and survivors now have access to a vast Nazi archive concerning the Holocaust.
More than 100 million digital images are now on file at the US Holocaust Memorial in Washington, DC and two other repositories.
Holocaust survivors and their families can make requests online at www.ushmm.org or call toll-free at 866-912-4385.
More than 100 million digital images are now on file at the US Holocaust Memorial in Washington, DC and two other repositories.
Holocaust survivors and their families can make requests online at www.ushmm.org or call toll-free at 866-912-4385.
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