Meet our Survivor Volunteers

David Bayer

“When I came back to our house there was Germans, in our house, robbing us, taking everything that they can. German officers and German soldiers, whatever they could. A lot of shoes, a lot of leather, they were taking whatever they wanted. We came in, the Germans asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ We said, ‘We live here, this is my house.’ They were laughing and making fun of us. We were scared, me, my mother, my brother, my two sisters, my father. My father was 40 years old then. And there was a German that asked my father, ‘Why do you, why do you, nobody likes the Jews. Why are you so afraid? Why nobody likes the Jews?’ Because, my father told him, ‘Because we don’t hit back.’ He made a gesture with his fist, I was scared I thought my father was going to hit him but he just made it with his fist. So every German laughed and they left.”
(postwar testimony)

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Gerald Schwab

Born February 19, 1925, in Freiburg, Germany

Listen to Gerald Schwab discuss being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, just 4 years after immigrating to the U.S. from Nazi Germany »

View Gerald's photo album »

Gerald was born to a conservative Jewish family in Freiburg, Germany. His father was a businessman. His company was based in Germany and the warehouse was located in Switzerland. His mother helped his father with the business.

Gerald attended a German school until April 1933. The government issued a boycott on Jewish business. They traveled to Switzerland but were unable to stay. Instead they moved to St. Louis, France, where the family lived for a few years. His father ventured back and forth from France into Switzerland to sell supplies to retailers. In 1935, the French allowed refugees to live in France only if they moved 100 km from the border. This made it extremely difficult for his father to conduct business since he needed to travel from France. The family moved to Loerrach, Germany because of this situation.

The Schwab family wanted to leave Germany in 1938. Gerald attended a German school until two days after the Night of broken glass on November 9, 1938. By now the Germans began to add the letter J in red to passports of Jews. His father could no longer travel for business.

March 1939, Gerald joined the Kindertransport. He lived with a farmer near Zurich, Switzerland from April till December and then stayed with a Christian family until May 1940. On May 10, 1940, his parent’s received the family’s Visas (the same day the Germans invaded Belgium and Holland). One week later they left for Italy and sailed to the United States on the S.S. Washington.

Gerald was 15 years old when he arrived in New York. His family first lived in Long Branch, New Jersey. After a year in the United States, the family acquired a poultry farm in central New Jersey and Gerald was schooled. In 1944, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and achieved the rank of Corporal by the time he was discharged.

Photo Album