Herman Stern's sister Jettchen had married
Hugo Henlein in 1924. They made their home in Bad Schwalbach, a fairly small
town near Frankfurt. Henlein, like Adolf Stern, was a cattle dealer, earning
a modest living. The Henleins had one child, their daughter Lotte, born in 1925.
Since Bad Schwalbach was a resort town, Lotte grew used to seeing new people
in the community. But neither Lotte nor her parents had any personal experience
of virulent anti-Semitism before 1933 -- "we had the lovely parks to walk
to and to run to. In school, I had no problem with children of other faiths
in those years. We were all children who played. It was very pleasant."
It did not take long for that to change
after Hitler took power -- "it wasn't that they came there [to Bad Schwalbach],"
remembered Lotte, "it was the people in the town who joined the Nazi party.
Then they got into the uniforms, then they started marching, then the songs
came. Then there was a place where they put up [anti-Semitic] posters. By 1935,
Lotte and other Jewish children were being threatened by older boys at school,
so Hugo removed her from classes, saying "This is the end. They're not
going to kill my daughter." Soon after that he decided that he must take
his family and leave Germany. In September 1935, he wrote a long letter to Herman
Stern:
"We would like to leave from here,
but to where? Palestine impossible, unless if we had 13,000 marks, with
less than that, one cannot make it there. And what would we do there? Dear
Hermann, you wrote once about a farm, we'd be very interested in it, because
here we do not have any livelihood any more. I wrote earlier to you about
my situation here, nothing has improved. If you have the intention to send
for us, please describe the living conditions on a farm. Does one have farm
workers? I do not know anything in regards to plowing and planting. Can
one make a living by raising cattle and horses? This would be difficult
for me, both of us are over 50. What do you think? Shall we sell our house?
I do not want to leave any debt behind. And even with the sale of the house,
I'd not have enough money. Many Jewish homes are up for sale, yet we can
not continue this way. It is impossible, to express all this in writing.
We'd adjust to the loneliness, living on a farm. And we do not want to be
a burden for you. Would you not like to come for a visit to Germany? It
would not be expensive for you, the United States dollar stands high. Many
from here are going to South America, mostly as "settlers" [i.e.
farmers in the interior].
Before I forget, I gave your address to a neighbor, a businessman, he'd
like to get some information from you. He also wrote to Colombia. I wrote
to my sister in Waldbreitbach and told her about our intention, but did
not hear from her whether they wanted to stay [in Germany]. Therefore, please
take the trouble and give us an answer soon what you and your family think
about our concern. Too bad, we do not speak English, and our daughter Lotte
only learned it during the last year in school. How are the schools for
the children of the farmers? Lotte is already looking forward to riding
a pony to school.
You know, I am a skilled businessman, it might be difficult to place me
in my field. How big are the farms in your area? How is Erich doing? Has
he adjusted well? Speaking English perfectly already?
Hugo
Moses in Oberbrechen does not want to come with
us, he wants to go to Argentina. I'd like to work with Moses on a farm.
(a)
Document courtesy of Herman Stern Papers, OGL#217,
Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library,
University of North Dakota.
In the letter reproduced above, Herman Stern assures the American consulate
in Stuttgart that paperwork in support of the Henlein family's applications
for visas is on the way.
By this time, Mr. Stern had assisted several relatives,
so many that the State Department insisted on additional information before
they would grant any more visas under Stern's sponsorship. So while Stern obtained
depositions from people who could attest to his character and ability to support
another visa applicant, the Henleins had to wait. In November 1935, Hugo wrote
a second letter, assuring Herman that they must leave soon if they were to survive.
His cattle business had all but collapsed under the Nazi pressure to drive Jews
out of business. He had learned that, with so much other Jewish property for
sale, he would get no mote that 2000 Marks for his house. He promised that "we'll
be anything and we'll do anything, so we do not have to burden you financially
for a long time," so long as they could get out of Germany.
Lotte was only ten year's old in 1935, but well remembers
how badly things were going for Jews in Bad Schwalbach. None of the Jewish business
owners could maintain their regular customers. Her father could not collect
debts owed him from past transactions. "My father said they [men who owed
him money] came in the house and wouldn't pay. Now, the basement was right by
the kitchen door and there was a staircase down to the cellar. The man gave
[my father] a push [down the steps]. And by the grace of God, he didn't break
his neck."
The family held on, until finally
in October 1936 the American consulate in Stuttgart granted them visas to live
in America. They boarded the SS Washington at Hamburg and arrived in
New York just after Halloween. Moving to Valley City, they moved into an apartment
located by Herman Stern, who also helped Hugo find work with a local cattle
dealer. In 1937, Hugo purchased a scrap business in Valley City and operated
it until his death in 1939. (b) Lotte attended Valley City's
schools until she graduated in 1944, then moved to New York. Her mother Jettchen
joined her in New York about a year later.
Click here
to obtain a Free RealPlayer from Real.com (select the Free RealOne Player
option)
1. To hear the clip with a RealPlayer, click
2. If you would like
to read Mrs. Ullmann's story, click .
In an interview, Lotte
Henlein Ullmann explained how the Nazis organized the boycott of Jewish
businesses in 1933.
Select one of the links to the left
to hear Mrs. Ullmann's reflections on this crucial turning point in their
lives.
1
The Henlein's lived in Bad Schwalbach until 1936, then sailed for Hamburg
(2) to the U.S. aboard the SS Washington (3)
a. Special thanks to Gisela Nobel for
her assistance in translating this and other letters from German into English.
Original letter is in the Herman Stern Papers, OGL#217, Elwyn B. Robinson Department
of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota. The
"Erich" referred to in the letter is Erich Stern, the son of Gustav,
who immigrated to the U.S. about 1934.
b. It was a bitter irony that Hugo Henlein,
who had been driven from his country, died largely because of his service in
the German Army during World War I. As his daughter Lotte explained, "My
father's one lung was gassed during the First World War. He had but one lung,
and then he had caught a cold, he got pleurisy, and it moved to the lungs with
pneumonia. And they didn't have antibiotics at that time. It moved to the heart
and then he died."
.
