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Selmar and Elsa Biener joined the waiting list for US immigration visas in September 1938. Their waiting list numbers—45,685 and 45,686—indicate the number of people who had registered with the US consulate in Berlin. By September 1938, approximately 220,000 people throughout Germany, mostly Jews, were on the waiting list.
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As Nazi anti-Jewish policy intensified, Kurt's family decided to leave Germany. Kurt left for the United States in 1937, but his parents were unable to leave before the outbreak of World War II. Kurt's parents were eventually deported to Auschwitz, in German-occupied Poland. In 1942, Kurt joined the United States Army and was trained in military intelligence. In Europe, he interrogated prisoners of war. In May 1945, he took part in the surrender of a village in Czechoslovakia and returned the next day to assist over 100 Jewish women who had been abandoned there during a death march. Kurt's future wife, Gerda, was one of the women in this group.
Oral History
Kurt Klein describes some of the difficulties involved in emigrating from Germany
Selmar and Elsa Biener joined the waiting list for US immigration visas in September 1938. Their waiting list numbers—45,685 and 45,686—indicate the number of people who had registered with the US consulate in Berlin. By September 1938, approximately 220,000 people throughout Germany, mostly Jews, were on the waiting list.
Document
On the waiting list for American visas
Six members of the Anders Army pose in front of a railcar prior to their departure for Iran. Krasnovodsk, Soviet Union, February 21, 1942.
Article
Polish Refugees in Iran during World War II
The Jacobsthal family poses with an aunt and uncle who are visiting their home in Amsterdam before emigrating to Chile. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 1938.
Article
Refuge in Latin America
Jewish refugees in Lisbon, including a group of children from internment camps in France, board a ship that will transport them to the United States. Lisbon, Portugal, June 1941.
Article
Refugees
Media Essay
Refugees (Abridged Article) - Maps
Media Essay
Refugees (Abridged Article) - Photograph
Media Essay
Refugees - Maps
The back of Samuel Soltz's citizenship papers illustrates the vast array of bureaucratic stamps and visas needed to emigrate from Europe in 1940–41. The stamp in the top left, dated August 21, 1940, represents a visa from the Japanese consul to Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara. Sugihara issued thousands of visas to enable Jews to escape.  
Timeline Event
Samuel Soltz's Visa
German Jews crowd the Palestine Emigration Office in an attempt to leave Germany. Berlin, Germany, 1935.
Photo
Seeking to leave Germany
A postcard of the SS St. Louis. May 1939. The plight of German-Jewish refugees, persecuted at home and unwanted abroad, is illustrated by the May 13, 1939, voyage of the SS St. Louis.
Timeline Event
St. Louis Sets Sail
The SS Quanza was a Portuguese ship chartered by Jewish refugees attempting to escape Nazi-dominated Europe in August 1940. Passengers with valid visas were allowed to disembark in New York and Vera Cruz, but that left 81 refugees seeking asylum. On September 10, 1940, they sent this telegram to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to implore her for help.
Photo
Telegram from Quanza Passengers to Eleanor Roosevelt
Media Essay
The Aftermath of the Holocaust - Animated Map/Map
Media Essay
The Aftermath of the Holocaust - Photograph
Media Essay
The Aftermath of the Holocaust - Oral Histories
Media Essay
The Evian Conference

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