For many years when we talked about family history, we had a few stories we always told. We have a large family with many people living in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. When my sisters and I came to the United States in 1947–48, we had four of my father’s siblings living in the area. My brother, who had arrived in the United States in 1941, had lived for many years with our Uncle Sali and his wife, Fanny. My brother, Herman, considered them his parents, and Hans, their son, to be his brother. This led to one of our favorite stories my brother and I would tell when we met new people. The story being I only had one brother, named Herman, but he also had a brother. My sisters and I initially lived with Uncle Sigmund and Aunt Reggie.
As we all got on with our lives, married, and settled down, we told our children the basic story of how we had survived. My sisters and I talked about being sent on the Kindertransport, but Herman never spoke about his experiences. Later when my sister Bertl shared the letters our parents sent from Gurs and Rivesaltes internment camps, there was some mention about Herman, but we never really talked about it.
Skipping forward many years later, I began volunteering at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Through staff member Betsy Anthony, I met Lilly Maier, a historian from Vienna. She interviewed me about my Kindertransport experience for her undergraduate thesis, and we remained friends. Later the Museum historians were researching information for the exhibition Americans and the Holocaust. They found a picture of my brother waiting in Lisbon to board the SS Mouzinho to come to the USA. It turned out that Lilly was writing a book about Arthur Kern (born Oswald Kernberg) who was also traveling on this ship. So as Lilly researched Arthur’s life before he arrived in the United States, she also found information about my brother. This information enabled my nieces to locate further information about their father, Herman, who was no longer alive. My nieces think he would not have been pleased to have them learn about his experiences. We now know that Herman was imprisoned with his parents at Gurs. The Children’s Aid Society and other organizations rescued him and other children and sent them to the United States.
The one question that has never been answered is why Herman did not leave on a Kindertransport. Recently, Lilly gave a talk on her book about Arthur at my synagogue. Several of my family members attended. After the talk, one of my nieces, Herman’s daughter, told me that she had thought her father couldn’t leave on the Kindertransport because they didn’t take boys. But they did take boys. Another of Herman’s daughters theorized it might have been harder to place boys. My sisters and I also always wondered why Herman didn’t leave with me. I’m sorry we never talked about it. Of course, we still don’t know why he didn’t escape that way. With further research, perhaps we will find out.
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