THE TERRIBLE STORY OF KURT AND HENNIE IN 1939.
Kurt and Hennie Reiner were Holocaust survivors, having been born in Vienna and having spent 18 months running from the Nazis.
Kurt was in Dachau (The first concentration camp built in Germany) and when he fled to France in 1939, he was again arrested; This time as an "Enemy Alien.
Germany had just invaded Poland and France declared war on Germany.
As a result, Kurt, carrying a German passport was interned at the Aix des Milles prison for (ironically) being viewed as the German enemy.
His religious status as a Jew was secondary to his nationality. Kurt spent nine months at the Camp before being released.
My reason for bringing this story to your attention is that today is Sept. 9, my mother's birthday. Mom was born in 1919.
In 1938, she went to the Gestapo Headquarters and presented phony papers in order to get my father released from Dachau.
When Kurt was arrested in France on Sept. 3, 1939 my mother lived in Marseille on ration coupons for nine months while she tirelessly worked to get visas so that they could both emigrate to the US.
During that time she visited the American Consulate to expedite the process and wrote dozens of letters to her newlywed husband whom she married on July 24, 1938 ( The last weekend Jewish weddings were permitted in Germany/Austria).
The visas came through and my dad was released as the Germans marched toward Paris. On May 20, 1940 they boarded the SS Champlain for NY.
The 2500 prisoners that remained at the Camp des Milles were later sent to Auschwitz (the notorious extermination camp) and murdered.
On its return voyage on June 14, 1940 the SS Champlain hit a mine and was torpedoed and sunk by the Nazis.
When they arrived in NY harbor, the AP photographers focused on Hennie as not only was she beautiful but because she was wearing a hat with the flags of the Triple Alliance (France, England, US).
Her picture was circulated in every paper in the US. with the caption, "Counting on America.
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