I want to thank Pearl Markovitz for having given me the opportunity to tell my Holocaust story recently at Teaneck High School, as well as for the article she submitted to the Jewish Link (“Kristallnacht Witness Norbert Strauss Addresses Commemoration at Teaneck High School,” November 23, 2016).
I am sure space demanded the deletion of many other interesting facts that I told the student body, but I feel the need to correct some errors of fact that are contrary to the known history.
The passengers on the St. Louis were not sent back to Germany after landing in Cuba had been made impossible, nor were the majority sent back to their native country, etc. The fact is that the passengers were all landed in Antwerp and from there were distributed to Great Britain, France, Belgium and Holland, which countries had agreed to take in all passengers so that they would not have to return to Germany. Many subsequently perished in concentration camps when the Nazis invaded France, Belgium and Holland.
Of lesser importance are the following incorrect facts.
The restaurant in Frankfurt was not owned by my father and uncle, but only by my uncle.
My father did not return home from Buchenwald after one week, but after four weeks.
My mother with her two sons did not have harrowing train rides through France and Spain, but we were able to fly out via Lufthansa from Stuttgart, via Lyon, Barcelona and Madrid to Lisbon.
When discharged from the Army in Korea (USAMGIK) my rank was Sergeant. It was my title, not rank, that was Sergeant Major of the Military Personnel in the Dept. of Commerce of the government in Seoul as well as Chief Clerk of the Korean civilian personnel there.
I am disregarding other minor errors.
Norbert Strauss
Teaneck
Editor’s Note: The Jewish Link apologizes to Mr. Strauss for these grievous errors. We have corrected the article in the online version, available here: http://jewishlinknj.com/community-news/bergen/15789-kristallnacht-witness-norbert-strauss-addresses-commemoration-at-teaneck-high-school
