Hanne 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.
One of my other memories is the boycott of April 1933, where our show windows were plastered with "Jew" "Jew" "DON'T GO TO THE JEW!" And so on and so forth. These are really some of my childhood memories. Family life was great. Outside the family, it was not so good. You were insulted in the street many times. You were called "dirty Jew." Things like that. For several years, I did have Gentile girlfriends and, of course, under the pressure of the Nazi time they could no longer associate with me, and I would not dare associate with them.
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