Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., November 27, 2008 Cheshvan 29, 5769 | | Israel Time: 12:46 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate GA 2008 Travel Week's End Anglo File

Up in flames By Yotam Feldman Tags: Israel news Dr. Ernest Stock has lived as a Jew on three continents: he was born in Frankfurt in 1924, left Germany for France after Kristallnacht, studied in the United States at Princeton and Columbia universities, and in 1961 (after marrying an Israeli) came on aliyah to Israel, where he directed the Jerusalem branch of Brandeis University. These days, retired in Tel Aviv, he looks back on an eventful life. He has documented his childhood and its abrupt end in a book, 'Jugend auf der Flucht,' recently published in Germany. "I went to a Frankfurt public school for two years until Hitler came to power and my parents transferred me to a school run by the Jewish community," he says. "In our neighborhood, I had felt quite at home playing with the non-Jewish children. So much so that during the 1932 elections I was part of a group distributing National Socialist propaganda near the polling station. When I showed up at home with the leaflets, my father slapped me in the face. "How dare you do such a thing?" he asked, furious. I remember that I would have liked to join the Hitler Youth and was sorry there was no chance. I was jealous of my friends, with their uniforms and exciting activities." Stock recalls that the Nazis' viciously anti-Jewish journal, Der Sturmer, posted prominently at intersections, aroused much curiosity among the children. "It played on that part of anti-Semitism which was based on fear of what Jews might do to German women. It was all rather mysterious to us, but also scary." Advertisement Fear mounted among Frankfurt's Jews after the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933. "There were more and more brown-shirted SA men in the streets, and the black uniforms of the SS with the ominous skull-and-bones insignia on their caps. Nights were often lit up by torchlight parades, and young voices could be heard singing lustily, 'Wenn's Judenblut vom Messer spritzt, dann geht's noch mal so gut!' (When Jewish blood spurts off the knife, things will go twice as well.) Somewhat ironically, until 1938 and the terror of Kristallnacht, the country's Jews failed to make full use of the immigration quota reserved for Germany by the United States; everyone who so desired could have left. Ernest's father, too, refused to leave the homeland, believing that the Nazis were a passing phenomenon. "Only in October 1938, after the expulsion of the Polish Jews, did my father become convinced that we could not stay in Germany. He went to the American consular office to get a number for a visa application. It so happened that the next day a cousin of his who lived out of town showed up at our house. He, too, had come for a number on the waiting list, but in vain; the office had closed for the day. "Never mind," my father said to him. "You can have my number; I'll get another one in the morning." My mother never forgave him for this; the new number was so much higher that the family did not get out in time." On the night of November 9-10, SA men came to the apartment and told Mr. Stock he had 15 minutes to pack a suitcase and come with them. When his wife tried to remonstrate, they brutally pushed her aside, with Ernest and his younger sister Lotte standing by helplessly. On the train to Buchenwald the father wrote to the family on a postcard that he was all right; then he sent the card through the toilet bowl in the hope that someone would find it on the tracks and put it in the mail. And this is precisely what happened. "The next morning I went to the school, but there were no classes. From the corridor window I could see our synagogue go up in flames." His mother decided to send Ernest, then 14, and 10-year-old Lotte to family friends who lived in Alsace, France. On December 6, the children left with a group of the children of the Frankfurt Jewish orphanage, who were adopted by the Strasbourg community. The father was still in the concentration camp, with his wife making efforts to get him out. He was freed on the basis of distinguished service in the army in the first World War, and a decoration attesting to the fact that he was thrice wounded, at both the French and Russian fronts. When he came home, his first question was, "Where are the children?" He burst into bitter tears, but didn't know then that he would not see them again for seven years. As part of his release, the elder Stock had to commit himself to leave Germany, and he managed to cross into Holland. When the war caught up with him there, he survived with the help of a Dutch couple who let him hide in their home in Utrecht. In the meantime, Lotte went to school and Ernest found work with a blind, old Jewish businessman. "The man had investments in New York, and I had to read the stock quotations to him every morning. Later I worked in Strasbourg as an apprentice to a photographer, which had been my hobby." When war broke out in September 1939, Alsace, as a border region, was evacuated of its civilian population. The children found shelter with another German Jewish family in a Paris suburb. Their mother, who had stayed behind in Frankfurt, at last received the U.S. visa in March 1940. She left by way of Holland for New York, where she was able to apply for a special non-quota visa for her children. It was issued to them on May 20 by the U.S. consulate in Paris. But before they could sail on one of the few liners still crossing the Atlantic, the German army invaded France. The day before it entered Paris on June 14, the children left the capital on bicycles, joining the stream of refugees that clogged the roads leading southward. After an adventurous journey through France and Spain, they reached Lisbon, Portugal, where a ship was waiting to repatriate Americans stranded in Europe. But because they were not American citizens, the children were refused passage. They went on board anyway, and stowed away until the ship, the S.S. Manhattan, had left port. Then Lotte got seasick, and they gave themselves up. "Mother waited for us on the pier in New York," Ernest recalls. "All the passengers debarked, only we had to stay on board until the tickets were paid for." In 1943 Stock was drafted into the U.S. army. "I wanted very much to enlist and be sent to Europe and look for my father. We knew he was alive, through Red Cross messages he sent us under an assumed name." But the army had other plans. Following infantry basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, the unit was issued tropical gear for fighting the Japanese in the jungles of New Guinea. Stock, determined to get to Europe, feigned cardiac pains at the physical exam prior to shipment. The doctor had him admitted to the base hospital for tests. By the time he was declared fit, and released, the Pacific-bound battalion had shipped out without him. "Because of my knowledge of languages, I was assigned as interpreter to a CID [Criminal Investigation Division] stationed in Belgium. In May 1945, my commanding officer gave me leave to search for my father. He assigned a buddy to accompany me, and together we set out by jeep for Utrecht. At the address I knew from the Red Cross letters, I saw my father sitting at a ground floor window, staring at the approaching jeep. The GI uniform was an unfamiliar sight, as the area was occupied by the British and Canadians. "Kennst Du mich nicht?" (Don't you know me?), I asked him. He answered, "Nein, ich kenn Dich nicht" (No, I don't know you). The last time he had seen me I was a boy of 14, and now he faced an American soldier of 21, with a steel helmet. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Who's missing? Haredi parties absent from Jerusalem coalition for first time in decades. 'Kavosh 2' Amid nuclear tensions, Iran says it successfully launched rocket.   1.   Dear Mr Feldman 23:08  |  C. Haberland 26/11/08

Read & React 101 dead as armed militants storm locations across Mumbai Responses: 141 Mazuz: Olmert indictment possible in Rishon Tours scandal Responses: 36 Ari Shavit: While the Palestinian track fails, let's focus on Syria Responses: 8 Israel Harel: Defense establishment gives enemy hope that Israel's end is near Responses: 15 More Headlines 12:42 Indian commandos surround besieged Chabad house in Mumbai 11:16 101 dead as armed militants storm locations across Mumbai 12:21 'Pray for our loved ones held hostage in Mumbai,' Afula family says 09:59 Livni calls urgent Kadima meet on possible Olmert indictment 07:08 ANALYSIS / What it means: the path to indicting Olmert 10:30 Pope to make rare visit to Israel in May, following months of Jewish-Catholic tension 03:07 Who stole Hitler's golden bookmark? 04:25 IDF rejects claims it killed Palestinians in defiance of court 07:18 Palestinian power struggle may bar pilgrims from visiting Mecca 07:41 Israel Harel / Defense establishment gives enemy hope that Israel's end is near 10:01 Court ruling sees IDF targeted assassinations as last resort 02:25 Likud MKs tell Netanyahu: Ignore far-right elements in party 07:59 Advertising firms censor signs for fear of vandalism 03:01 Israeli police trot the globe to nab smugglers before they get here 03:55 UN watchdog clears Syria bid for atomic aid, despite world doubts 18:30 Lebanon asks Iran to supply its army with midsize weapons Previous Editions Select Day 26 nov 25 nov 24 nov 23 nov 21 nov 20 nov 19 nov 18 nov 17 nov 16 nov 14 nov 13 nov

Special Offers Advertisement Living in Israel Studying in English Click & Meet our students from all around the world Living in Israel Studying in English Click & Meet our students from all around the world Dan Boutique Jerusalem New Dan Hotel in Jerusalem Young, Fun & Distinctively Dan Book Now Online! Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Car rental in Israel Shlomo Sixt Receive $15.00 from our low rates. Dial 013 for your long-distance calls and get all your money back US CITIZENS Vote for real change. Request your ballot today! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved