Peter did not live in the Kitchener Camp. Instead, he attended a boarding school where he continued his education and learned English. Separated from his parents, Peter contacted his father and mother through letters and occasionally visited them.
Susan received this hymnal with an image of Jesus Christ. She carried the book to "hide in plain sight." She does not recall when she wrote her name on the interior cover.
In the fall of 1938, Nazi authorities required all Jews in Germany to carry identity cards stamped with the letter “J” for Jude (Jew). German Jews whose names did not instantly identify them as Jewish had to add the name “Sara” for women and…
Peter did not live in the Kitchener Camp. Instead, he attended a boarding school where he continued his education and learned English. Separated from his parents, Peter contacted his father and mother through letters and occasionally visited them.…
Peter Lederman's maternal grandparents, Julie and Kapel Hellbrunn, were deeply rooted in Germany. Both were born and raised there. They were steeped in German culture and language, and were integrated into German society. The Hellbrunns lived in…
The German authorities deported Minna "Sara" Ledermann (née Brüll), Peter's grandmother, from Arnstadt, Germany, to Theresienstadt on October 18, 1942. Less than three months later, Minna died in the ghetto-camp at the age of 69.
During Kristallnacht in November 1938, the Nazis burned the Klagenfurt synagogue. The Torah scrolls were taken out to the street and burned, as well as the furniture. In 1944, a bomb destroyed part of the synagogue. In the aftermath of World War II,…
Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels was the first to suggest a "general distinguishing mark" for German Jews in May 1938. German SS and police official Reinhard Heydrich reiterated the proposal idea on November 12, 1938, during a meeting with…
When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, they forced all Polish Jews to wear identity badges. Selma was under the age of 6 and not understanding the situation, recalled feeling jealous that Edith wore a badge, but she did not.