Читать книгу Never to Be Forgotten: A Young Girl's Holocaust Memoir - Beatrice Muchman - Страница 8

After the terror of our escape from Berlin, living in Belgium was a huge relief. The families of three of the Boas sisters—the Lewys, the Westheimers, and the Hurwitzes—were temporarily reunited. I remember it as a happy time and, compared with the recent situation in Berlin, it undoubtedly was.

Being a young child, I wasn’t aware of the hardships we faced. My family arrived in Brussels with few possessions. Nobody spoke French well or Flemish at all. We were there on interim visas and there was no possibility for legal employment. But everyone remained hopeful. America was our ultimate destination, and in the meantime we had each other.

The Hurwitzes (Frieda, Walter, and Henri) had come to Brussels two years earlier and lived in Uccle, an affluent district on the edge of the city. We Westheimers and the Lewys settled in cramped but separate quarters in a modest three-story apartment building on Chaussée de Wavre in the center of the city. They lived in an attic apartment and we lived right below them.

My grandmother alternated, living with all three families in turn. Mimi was a matriarchal figure in those days, and her strong-willed ways added to the tension in each household. Even at so young an age, I could tell that she disapproved of my father and he did not like her. They hardly spoke to each other, and he was often in a bad mood when she was around. But for me, Mimi was a loving presence, not only my babysitter but a trusted confidante during the long days when my parents were out of the apartment struggling to earn a living.

During those early days in Brussels, I spent much of my time playing with my cousins. Bernt Lewy was a year older than I was, and Henri Hurwitz a year younger. The only girl in the middle of two boys, I remember myself as a little flirt, an assessment that the adults who survived would later confirm.

I also had an active imagination, owing mostly to my mother, who had it in mind that I someday would be a movie star. She was a beautiful woman; gentle, soft-spoken, and creative. In Berlin she had been a fashion designer and had arranged for me to be a photographer’s model. In Brussels, I remember her sewing constantly. She made clothes for all of us seemingly from nothing, and the prettiest things were made for me. She would wrap my hair around thick wooden rollers to give me curls in the style of Shirley Temple. It was no coincidence that Shirley Temple was the person I most wanted to be. I was forever playing at being an actress, wandering off into a fantasy world whenever I wanted. During those tension-filled times, my world of make-believe was a warm refuge that my mother encouraged. This ability to let my imagination carry me away served me well throughout my childhood, especially later when I was separated from my family.

My father was a thin man, outwardly cheerful and optimistic, but he had a streak of stubbornness that probably had a lot to do with his having been an orphan as a child. Although old photographs show that he was taller than my mother, I remember it the other way around. Of course my recollection of his height might have been affected by my uncle, Werner Lewy, who, at six feet three inches, towered over everyone—especially his Wife, Margot, who was barely five feet tall.

My father was a salesman by trade, and despite his poor grasp of French, he soon managed to find work with a food company. At a time when food was scarce, this was an enviable position. Sometimes he would come home with a treat for me. I can recall watching for him late in the afternoon, with my face pressed to the window, wondering what he would have for me that night.

Despite their efforts to protect me, it was hard in that small apartment for my parents to keep me from sensing how difficult things were. They argued frequently, mostly out of frustration from trying to procure the necessary papers to arrange our departure from Belgium. life was totally taken up with talk of getting visas.

In 1939, this was no easy task. The immigration laws were constantly changing. The United States was reluctant to accept immigrants in general and Jewish immigrants in particular. To secure a visa, an applicant had to have an affidavit from an American citizen certifying that he or she was willing to accept financial responsibility for the immigrant being sponsored.

The Hurwitzes (Walter and Frieda) did not plan on going to the United States. Walter liked Europe and wished to remain in Belgium unless forced to leave. But for the Lewys and Westheimers, there was no hesitation. They clung to the hope of a new start in America.

The Lewys were counting on the sponsorship of an American cousin of Werner’s who was an attorney in Chicago. My parents hoped to secure an affidavit from some relatives of my father’s who had an insurance business in Texas. Although the Tausks (Walter and Hella) were already in New York, they were not yet U.S. citizens and were only permitted to sponsor my grandmother.

Amid the frustration of trying to make these complicated arrangements, the three families managed to get away for a few days at the seashore during the summer of 1939. I recall the beach at Blankenberge being damp and chilly, but looking at photographs taken on the boardwalk gives me a warm feeling about the last time we all gathered together as a family. I recall playing in the sand with my cousins and watching Uncle Werner and Aunt Margot dancing arm in arm on the beach. But my most vivid memory is of strolling along the boardwalk with my parents on either side of me, holding their hands, basking in the warmth and safety that a small child feels when loved and provided for. The world at that moment was a happy place.

In the fall, my parents enrolled me in a public school a few blocks from our apartment. I felt anxious at first, worried that the other children would find out I was German or Jewish. But I had already become fluent in French, so I was able to keep that hidden. And I knew I wouldn’t be staying at the school long, because we would soon be leaving for America. I enjoyed meeting other children my age and made friends quickly, I also enjoyed doing schoolwork. I did well on my weekly report card, which pleased my parents. Making them proud of me was the most important thing in my life.

By late in 1939, my parents and the Lewys had finally managed to collect all the necessary papers to secure our visas. While I went off to school clutching my books, my father and Werner left for the immigration office, carrying the precious papers that would enable their families to start a new life in America. Upon arriving there, they were separated and assigned to different lines. Werner’s papers were found to be in order and his application was approved. My father’s request was denied due to a misspelling of his name in the affidavit sent by his relatives.

It is easy to imagine how, in the confusion of a government office run by officious bureaucrats, two otherwise confident young men would feel powerless to assert themselves. Their lack of fluency in the language no doubt posed a huge obstacle to communication, but the contempt that many Belgians felt toward Germans most certainly played a role as well. For Werner Lewy, being unable to summon the nerve to intervene on my father’s behalf came to be the most profound regret in his life. It was a regret that he carried to his grave. On countless occasions in later years, he was given to saying, “If only I had known then what I know now ...”

But it is unlikely that his protest would have accomplished anything. Trying to reason with the clerks who controlled their destiny would have been as difficult as coming to terms with the cruel quirk of fate by which a single typographical error could spell the difference between life and death. It’s a quirk of fate that I may never fully come to terms with and one that I definitely did not understand that day when I got home from school. I only knew that the Lewys were going to America and we were not.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

STATE OF ILLINOIS)

COUNTY OF COOK)

CITY OF CHICAGO)

LEE COHN, being first on oath duly sworn, deposes and says that he is an American Citizen by birth; that he was born in the City of Beloit, Rock County and State of Wisconsin; that he is 56 years of age and has continuously resided in the United States of America since his birth. That his present residence is No.1 7217 Ridgeland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. That he has resided in the State of Illinois for the past 36 years continuously and at the above address for the past 14 years; that he is the head of a family consisting of himself, his wife and two minor children, and resides with the same.

This affiant further states that he is a lawyer by profession, having been admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois in the year 1907 by the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois; that he maintains offices for the practice of law at N. 139 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois.

That this affiant and his wife Miriam R. Cohn are the owners of real estate in the City of Chicago of the value of about $35000.00; that the income from the property is about $4500.00 per annum; that the net income from his business amounts to about $4000.00 per annum; that he carries life insurance in the sum of $6000.00.

That WERNER LEWY, MARGOT LEWY, his wife, and BERNT WOLFGANG LEWY, age 7 years, his son, who are cousins to this affiant on the paternal side, and now resident at No. 99 Chusee de Warve [sic], Brussels, Belgium, desire to come to the home of this affiant at Chicago, Illinois. That this affiant is ready, willing, and able to receive him and his said family and care for them for a period of six months after his arrival and for such a length of time as he and his family may remain, and this affiant guarantees that said Werner Lewy nor his family will become a charge about the Country or the State of Illinois or any subdivision thereof, or until such time as they may be self supporting.

That this affiant is a law abiding citizen of the United States of America and the State of Illinois and bears a good reputation in the community in which he resides; that neither this affiant, nor any member of his family have ever been subject to any criminal or legal prosecution; That for many years this affiant was attorney for the War Veterans Committee of the Chicago Bar Association, and as such had charge of the administering of estates of incompetent, disabled and deceased veterans of the late World Wars, and would respectfully refer you to the Chicago Bar Association, 29 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago,. Illinois; also to the Honorable Henry Homer, Governor of the State of Illinois, who prior to his election as Governor sat for many years as Judge of the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois; also the Honorable Ulysses S. Schwartz, Judge of the Superior Court, Cook County, Illinois.

This affidavit is made for the purpose of assisting WERNER LEWY, his wife MARGOT LEWY and minor son BERNT WOLFGANG LEWY to come to the home of this affiant at Chicago, Cook County, illinois, United States of America.

/s/ Lee Cohn

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME

THIS 16th day of August, A.D. 1939.

/s/________________

Notary Public

By 1939 Jews fleeting Germany were forced to leave their assets behind. BELHICEM was the Belgian organization that financed and otherwise assisted emigration from Nazi Europe.

[Translation]

I, the undersigned, WERNER LEWY (wife and child) acknowledge having received, from BELHICEM, the sum of 16.871,50 Francs for my upcoming voyage from BRUSSELS to NEW YORK, 12/9/1939. I am hereby liable to BELHICEM for the sum of SIXTEEN THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTY ONE 50 FRANCS.

Brussels, December 8, 1939 /s/ Werner Lewy

Name of ship: S.S. PENNLAND

Company: HOLLAND AMERICA LINE

Port and date of embarkation: ANTWERP, 12/911939

Port of debarkation: NEW YORK

Subsequent address, if possible:

LEWY, Werner

c/o Walter Tausk

106 (or) 107, Ford (sic) Washington Ave.

N.Y., U.S.A.

It was an awkward celebration in December I939 when the Lewys set off for New York, leaving behind the Westheimers and Mimi, who was still waiting for her own exit number to clear. Mimi was already distraught over being cut off from her relatives in Berlin, and now she was further shaken by the separation from another of her daughters. For my mother and Margot, who were the closest of the sisters, the parting must have been especially painful. As for me, I was jealous of the Lewys’ good fortune and angry at my father for what I thought must have been his mistake. I also felt guilty for not being able to hide my feelings better.

I knew that my mother and father also were disappointed, but outwardly they remained optimistic. They believed we would be able to get another affidavit and assured me that we would soon be joining the Lewys in America.

Johanna Boas and Family

December 1939

The Lewy Family

c/o Tausks

New York, N.Y.

My beloved children and dearest Bernilein,

By the time you get this note you will hopefully have landed in good health and fine spirits. I wish you a happy welcome in your new country: may God grant you peace at last. Three days ago we heard that your ship made it safely through all the mined danger zones. What a relief.

We all had other plans for the future, but one must be grateful with things as they are when one sees the dreadful state of affairs in Poland. But you, my dear children, are starting a new life, and God will help you.

Please write about everything, since Westheimers will not be familiar with anything at all. Tell us what they will need and what they should bring. In the hope this finds you all happy, I send you kisses and greetings. One thousand special kisses for Bernilein.

Your loving Mutti and Omi

[postscript to preceding letter]

Dear Lewys,

Wishing you all good things in your new country. Keep up a good attitude and remain hopeful. Everything will surely turn out. My best wishes on your 10th wedding anniversary. We will see each other again on your silver anniversary, the latest!

With my best wishes,

Your brother-in-law, Walter

My dear Lewys,

Hopefully, as you read these few words you already will have landed safely and recuperated from your long voyage. All good things on your 10th wedding anniversary, may you spend the next one in peace. I pray things will work out for us too. In the hope we meet again very soon, I wish you all good things.

Your, Madi

Hopefully the crossing agreed with you and you can spend your anniversary in your new homeland. Much success in the U.S.A.

Best wishes, Julle

All good wishes in your new home.

Friedel

Werner’s identification card was stamped with a large “J” as were those of all Jews in Germany. Fingerprints were also required.

On Werner’s passport, as on the passport of all Jewish males, the middle name “Israel“ was inserted. Jewish females were given the middle name of “Sara.“