6
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
.Escape from Germany
It's too bad that in the inter-
ests of safety, I don't give you
all the details about my trip, but
still, I would like to tell you
a few things. What I was most
afraid of was the ride on the
train. Luckily I could present an
old, long outdated identification
paper from the Post Office fur
the year 1938, which bore neither
the stamp "Religion" nor the
first name "Israel." The inspec-
tion occurred in the crowded sec-
ond-class compartment right out-
side Berlin. Since the inspector
merely checked hastily, he over-
looked the fact that the wiper
had long since expired. In case
A Joyous Chanukah to All
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HURD CLARK
From "Inside Germany" Reports
Early this year, an elderly German Jewish professor made his
way out of the Reich illegally to safety in Switzerland. This man
had suffered all the indignities of a Jew in Germany during nine
years of Hitler rule, had been interned in Dachau and by chance
escaped being shipped off to the Jewish reservation in Poland. He
is a man of intelligence and high professional standing. Below we
have retproduced the story that he tells of his last experience
in Germany in full, because, although he shows touching gratitude
for the kindnesses done him by German Aryans, we believe he was
a well qualified observer and that his experiences were in some
degree typical.
of an emergency I had a few
other documents with me that
attested to my former state po-
sition.
In Stuttgart I had the bad luck
that my train was too late to
make connections and consequen-
ly I was forced to spend the night
there. Now then the great diffi-
culty of staying overnight with-
out registering officially. To
spend the night in the waiting
room was naturally out of the
question on account of the danger
of a police inspection, moreover,
I wanted to continue the trip
well rested, for my nerves must
not give way again. (You must
already know that my first at-
tempt to leave the country, short-
ly before Christmas, failed,
though I got as far as X, because
my nerves gave way completely
towards the end. That time I
got to the border, saw the bless-
ed land, and had to turn back!
The lake had not frozen over
yet, I should have had to crawl
across the countryside from X.
LOU GENDLER
SINCERE CHANUKAH GREETINGS
BORDEN'S FARM PRODUCTS
COMPANY OF MICHIGAN
to Y. You can imagine my des-
peration. I had then to face the
danger of inspection on the re-
turn journey—you know all travel
is forbidden for Jews. Naturally
I had taken off the Jewish star.)
After much effort I succeeded
in finding the necessary quarters
for the night. The next day my
journey continued; at 11 a. in. I
was in R. Now that we were ap-
proaching the frontier, I was
afraid of a further inspection on
the train or at the station in IL
But, thank God, nothing like that
happened! I had to wait around
in R. until the Post Office closed
at four in the afternoon, in con-
stant fear of accidentally meet-
ing an old acquaintance. How-
ever, the day passed uneventful-
ly, as did the ride in the mail
truck to the region around our
old home.
At first I intended to cross the
lake on ice skates, which, togeth-
er with the necessary shoes, I had
been able to obtain in Berlin af-
ter a long search. However, after
thinking it over, I told myself
that it would be better to go on
foot; if I had an accident on
skates I would be utterly help-
less. Crossing the lake—it took
eight or ten minutes—was very
easy since the ice was covered
with a thin layer of snow. I had
hit upon a very favorable eve-
ning, just before dusk, for it
snowed the next day and then
crossing the lake would not have
been so simple. For protection
against being seen, I wrapped
myself from head to foot in a
white mantle made out of an old
sheet. Flight was possible for me
only in this region as I knew
it well and furthermore had stu-
died the map thoroughly.
In anticipation of getting my
Swiss entrance permit, I had tried
every means of leaving the coun-
try legally. I was running around
for weeks trying to get the iden-
tification paper necessary for an
exit visa. It would be too much
to recite all my efforts to get
this visa. I finally succeeded in
getting to the very highest au-
thorities and they treated me in
a very kind manner. If there had
been the slightest possibility, they
would have given me a passport
and identification papers. But,
since Himmler himself had given
the orders that no exit visas were
to be granted, my appeal had to
fail. A particularly friendly high
official strongly advised me to
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ALT S
December 4, 342
1
INDUSTRIAL
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W. L. MAYBERRY
8955 THADDEUS AVE.
cross the border illegally as he
thought any change in the orders
was out of the question. How-
ever, I kept hearing rumors that
exceptions would be made in cases
of people over sixty and I kept
wavering in my resolve. That,
after all, is understandable con-
sidering the risks involved in an
illegal flight. But after a second
conversation with the friendly of-
ficial I was finally decided. And
so my flight succeeded at last.
The goal was worth the risk.
Now, as to your questions: The
order now is that the parties of
mixed marriages have to separ-
ate, and in case of refusal the
Aryan party is to be considered
a Jew. Divorce has been forced
in many instances of artists and
there have been a number of sui-
cides as a result. For example, a
well-known actor who was mar-
ried to a Jewess killed his wife
and his child and then commit-
ted suicide. Suicides are very com-
mon among Jews. In Berlin, hun-
dreds have taken their lives to
avoid the uncertain, or rather,
the certain fate in the East. Even
earlier, when the Jewish badge
was first introduced, there were
many suicides obviously because
people feared insults and physi-
cal violence when they had to
appear on the streets labelled as
enemies of the state. These fears
proved to be completely unjusti-
fied. From my own observations
I believe that eighty percent of
the people refuse to accept this
outrage against the Jews, fre-
quently even expressing their
feelings in a very demonstrative
way. Many show their good will
by offering Jews cigars and rig.
arettes, giving candy to the chil-
dren, offering seats in streetcars
and subways, and in a hundred
other ways. It once happened to
me in a public place that a gen-
tleman who was a complete stran-
ger stopped and said to me:
"Don't lose courage, things will
change some day." There have
been only individual instances of
aggression and offensiveness Wilt]
tirades in the press have shown
how angry the Nazis have been
that the compulsory wearing of
the Star of David has failed cum-
See ESCAPE—Pag e 9
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