Norbert studied law and was a social worker in Berlin. He worked on the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) program, arranging to send Jewish children from Europe to Great Britain. His parents, who also lived in Berlin, were deported in December 1942. Norbert, his wife, and their child were deported to Auschwitz in March 1943. He was separated from his wife and child, and sent to the Buna works near Auschwitz III (Monowitz) for forced labor. Norbert survived the Auschwitz camp, and was liberated by US forces in Germany in May 1945.
Describes working for the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) program, arranging for Jewish children to leave Germany
Item ViewNorbert studied law and was a social worker in Berlin. He worked on the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) program, arranging to send Jewish children from Europe to Great Britain. His parents, who also lived in Berlin, were deported in December 1942. Norbert, his wife, and their child were deported to Auschwitz in March 1943. He was separated from his wife and child, and sent to the Buna works near Auschwitz III (Monowitz) for forced labor. Norbert survived the Auschwitz camp, and was liberated by US forces in Germany in May 1945.
Item ViewAlice grew up in a small village in Czechoslovakia. She was the middle of three daughters in a well-to-do, close-knit family. Her parents were religious and active in the Jewish community. After the German annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, antisemitism became more pronounced. Alice's uncle, a businessman who had moved to Great Britain, helped her parents arrange to send Alice and her two sisters on a Kindertransport (Children's Transport) to Britain. The sisters lived in a children's home in the south of England, near the coast. They had to be evacuated from the area in 1941. Alice then attended school, graduated, and worked in a book shop in London for about a year. In 1943 or 1944, she began to work as a bilingual secretary for the Czech government-in-exile. Alice immigrated to the United States in 1948.
Item ViewBeatrice's family lost their textile business and home when the Nazis barred Jews from owning property. The family was deported to camps. Beatrice, her sister, and their mother were sent to Gurs. The Children's Aid Society (OSE) later placed the girls in homes and convents, where they feared Allied bomb attacks, but escaped the horrors of camp life. Their parents perished.
Item ViewHanne Hirsch Liebmann (1924–2026) grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany. She was raised by her mother, Ella, who was widowed in 1925. In January 1933, when Hanne was 8 years old, the Nazis came to power in Germany. Nazis targeted the family's photo studio during the April 1933 anti-Jewish boycott. In November 1938, Hanne experienced the violence and terror of Kristallnacht. Then, in October 1940, the Nazi regime deported Hanne and her family to France, where they were imprisoned in the Gurs internment camp. In Gurs, Hanne met Max Liebmann, who had also been deported from Germany. In September 1941, the Children's Aid Society (OSE) rescued Hanne and placed her in a children's home in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. In 1943, Hanne obtained false papers and crossed into Switzerland. There, she reunited with Max. They married and had a daughter. In 1948, the family immigrated to the United States. Hanne's mother was deported from France to Auschwitz in 1942. She did not survive the Holocaust.
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