"THE ORT KIDS FROM BERLIN" by: STANLEY SHOTZ
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The years 1994 and 1995 brought to the forefront many observances and
commemorations of incidents that had to do with events surrounding the World
War II era. Veterans crowded into parts of Europe to visit the sites on which
they participated in fighting battles. Omaha and Normandy beaches hosted
memorial services and former POWs visited prison camps where they were
confined. The news accounts moved to the Far East where similar activities
publicized the activities which focused on the fighting at Iwo Jima and the
bombing of Hiroshima. There were some observances that passed with little or
no mention in the news media. They were however as important to those that
relived their horror of fifty years ago as the more popular incidents that have
made not only the headlines but were also the subject of numerous films.
Six Jewish men all in their 70's convened for a very personal and private
reunion in West Palm Beach and Deerfield Beach, Florida. They had been teen-age
schoolmates in the late 1930's in Berlin Germany. It was the general knowledge
during that time, that Jews were prohibited from attending schools of higher
learning and so some Jewish German youths attempted to gain admission to
a trade school in Berlin. It was felt that with a trade, one would be assured
an opportunity to find employment. The Organization of Rehabilitation though
Training, known worldwide as ORT had opened a trade school for boys in Berlin.
Financed by the World ORT Union more than 200 Jewish boys were enrolled and
among them were the six to whom I made earlier reference. Courses were given in
electricity, plumbing, tool and die making, welding and machine shop. The
students were required to spend time in each of the departments.
As the authorities gradually closed in on the Jews of Berlin, the World ORT
leadership began plans to spirit their students out of Germany and into
England. Complications arose as the English didn't want the children and the
Germans did not want to let them leave. As the plans materialized, the move to
England through Holland, did not find these boys all sharing the same fate. They
were allowed less than 3 hours notice to rush home, pack clothing and for most
they unknowingly said their last good-byes to their families. A school was
hastily built in a barn in Leeds, a town far to the north of London. During
the several months of the construction period, the ORT boys were confined to
the Kitchener refugee camp. They ultimately were transferred to Leeds where
they resumed their schooling. Living in cottages in the surrounding area they
walked several miles to the barn which housed their training facilities.
Six months later, one group of 50 ORT boys, having reached the age of 18,
found themselves separated for internment. If you were one day under 18 you were
fortunate and were allowed to stay at the school in Leeds. The remainder were
interned on the Isle of Man, which had been converted to a prison camp. After
two weeks all 50 of the ORT boys and others were placed on a troop ship the
H.S.T. Dunera, built in 1937 and owned by the British India Company. It was
capable of a speed of 16 knots. With accommodations for about 1400 people the
list grew to 2,542 plus the crew and the guards. Among them were more than
250 Nazi army and naval prisoners and 200 Italian facists and a number of Jews
including the 50 ORT students. Before leaving the port of Liverpool for the
open sea, additional war prisoners were placed on board. They were the German
merchant marine prisoners that survived the torpedoing of the "Arandora Star"
prison ship by the Germans and were the survivors of the 2000 captives that
went down with the ship and a number of Italians. The British guards aboard the
Dunera were advised that all were dangerous enemy soldiers, sailors and
spies. Some of the married Jewish men were enticed to board on the promise and
subterfuge that they would be reunited with their wives and children when the
ship reached Canada. Inferences were made that the ship was going to the
United States, Canada and a few other enticing ports also were mentioned .
The destination was really not known and the ship traveled for two months with
just two stops at ports that were believed to be somewhere in Northwest
Africa. The knowledge of the skies brought forth from the German merchant
mariners with their navigational experience much speculation as to the
direction the ship was taking. It was determined that the destination was sure
to be Australia. Shipboard life was unbearable. The English guards beat, stole
and harassed the prisoners aboard the H.S.T. Dunera. The guards that were
placed on the ship had just come aboard after returning from the horrible
disaster that they had suffered at Dunkirk and the guard detail had no love
or time for the Germans after the English defeat. Jews were considered
part of the war prisoners that made up the cargo. Although each internee had
been allowed up to 80 pounds of luggage. Personal articles were forcefully
removed from them, precious papers, pictures and momentos of their families were
brazenly taken and even destroyed if they lacked any value to the British crew
or guards. Wallets,suitcases, violins and other valuable possessions along with
anything that was not concealed in their pockets were thrown overboard. For
several days no toilet facilities were allowed to be used. The decks and holds
of the ship became an open latrine. After about 4 days two dozen toilets were
made available to more than 3000 prisoners and the lack of water and adequate
plumbing turned the ship into a sickening open sewer. Standing in long lines,
those who couldn't wait or had dysentery were forced to either stand in line or
relieve themselves openly where they waited. Hatches were kept closed,
ventilation restricted; disease and death rampant and uncontrolled. Every
aspect of a prison ship was evident, the Jews including the boys from the ORT
school were treated as such and not as refugees. The students had left Germany
on August 27, 1939. The war had not as yet started.
Without medical care, clothing, bathing and decent food, the eight weeks of
tropical heat were more than many could endure. Fresh water was made available
only 2 or 3 times a week and the food was mostly inedible; consisting of smoked
fish and sausages and a spoonful of lemon jam a day. The bread was maggoty and
the butter always rancid. It was not unusual to learn of suicides and
life-ending punishment being the fate of many. The Jews on board were handled
and treated no different than the war criminals and the hardships invoked
upon the refugees was not warranted. The ability of some of the Jews to speak
English served no purpose in creating any understanding, since the British
guards would not communicate with them. The guards stated that if the Dunera
were to be hit, unlike the fate of the survivors of the Arandora Star, they
would make sure than not one of the prisoners would survive. To see that this
would truly be their destiny, various devices were put in place that would lock
down the prisoners if the ship were to be abandoned. Later on, the British
Home Office in their eagerness to hide the facts of the entire matter placed a
100 year ban on the entire episode because of their dishonor in their handling
of the voyage.
On the approach to Australia the British guards distributed one razor for every
50 men. Since they each had only one pair of pants, one shirt, one pair of socks
and one pair of shoes for the entire journey, they were a sad looking lot as
they were unloaded in Sydney. Among the refugees there were a few lawyers andwhen the story of the sailing was later described to the English Government
officials they put some of the guards on trial. Some of the officers were
sentenced to prison terms and a few of the victims of the brutality eventually
received some restitution. About 2000 from the ship including the 50 ORT
students were sent by train on a 14 hour trip into the desert area of Australia
to a small town called Hay. The Germans and the Italians were taken off the ship
in Melbourne and sent to a different prison camp. It was to be behind barbed
wire fences that they were all imprisoned for several years. Sleeping in huts
made of corrugated metal the heat at times reached and often just stayed at 120
degrees. Tall watch towers were erected on each side of the enclosure and
brilliant searchlights radiated every three minutes across the darkened
grounds. Sleeping was almost impossible.The extreme heat and ferocious dust
storms made living conditions intolerable. The big puzzle for the ORT students
was trying to understand why they as youngsters were confined behind barbed wire
in a country thought to be friendly. They had lost their families and were
willing to fight the Germans and yet they were being held back from helping in
the war effort.
About 95% of the population at the Hay facility was thought to be Jewish.
The imprisoned were in an unusual position, the Australian Government had no
jurisdiction over them and could not release them if they had wanted to do so.
The British had more urgent things to be concerned about and so the Jewish
prisoners had the feeling that they would rot in the camp until the end of the
war. Eventually word reached the captors that all of these German speaking
prisoners were not the Nazi spies and devils that were being confined as their
enemy and the Jews began to receive concessions and were then treated better.
After almost two years in the camp, someone from England was sent to interrogate
them. At that point the Jews were finally declared refugees from Nazi
oppression and given three choices. The Jews could return to England and join
the army there. The second choice was to stay in Australia and join the army
immediately or the third option, they could be interned for the rest of the
war. The chances of making it to England were 50/50. The German U-boats were
believed capable of being able to sink almost anything that floated and so the
option of joining the Australian army seemed to be the better choice. Word
circulated quickly as ship after ship was sunk by German submarines and the
people lost at sea.
One of the ORT boys who chose to ship back to England was lost at sea.
Hearing this news, many chose to stay put in Australia. Today , a number of
those who were first imprisoned in Hay are still in the large cities of
Australia. They have become prominent leaders and business men in various
cities. In 1990 ( the 50th anniversary of their arrival in Australia) during a
two week period- Hay, Melbourne and Sydney invited back as their guests, many
of those who had originally been part of the prisoner compound. Parades,
dinners and the dedications of memorials were part of the observances and
many friendships were revived as many of the former prisoners returned as
successful businessmen and leaders in their communities abroad.
At the beginning of this narrative it is mentioned that a reunion had taken
place in South Florida in the Spring of '95. A few long time friends from
the ORT school in Berlin visited the homes of Ralph Stern in West Palm
Beach, Fla. and Sigi Veit in Deerfield Beach Fla. Somehow over the years
many of the ORT boys managed to know of each other's whereabouts. Ralph Stern,
was the oldest of the six and because of his being the only one to be 18 years
old at the time, was the only one of the 6 who went to Australia, the other 5
managed to stay at the Leeds ORT school for several years. Stern served 4
years in the Australian Army. Two of the men had not been seen for more than 55
years and all, with their wives came from New York, Georgia, Illinois, New
Jersey and Florida. The weekend was a happy one of renewing and retelling of a
previous life but it was also a sad, reflective period recalling other ORT
classmates and reciting what they knew of other friends and their destinies. At
times, tears flowed as incidents were recalled and long ago untold events
were shared by the six. One other who had also been a Dunera passenger, Henry
Benjamin of San Diego, died in February 1995. Both he and Ralph Stern were the
only two of the 50 ORT boys from Hay, Australia that appear to have come to
the United States after the war.
Sigi Veit , resides in Chicago and has a winter residence in Deerfield Beach,
Florida. He is retired after many years as an insurance agent .
Ralph (Rolf) Stern was in business in Yonkers, N.Y. and owned a retail linen
store. He lives in West Palm Beach Fla.
John Heller, was one who continued at the trade of being a tool and die maker
learned at the Berlin and the Leeds ORT Schools and makes his home in Fairlawn,
N.J.
Jimmy Green is still active in the medical instrument field and resides in the
vicinity of Columbus, Georgia.
Lou Raphelson also retired from the Insurance business, resides in Chicago
and has remained a close friend with Sigi (Sigfried) Veit.
Armin Blaine lives in Long Island , N.Y. and remained at Leeds School. Both he
and Ralph Stern were reunited In Berlin when that city, among others, invited
with all expenses paid, former Jewish residents to visit for a reunion.
The manner in which Stern came to the U.S.A. is a story from which motion
pictures are made. As a young single woman, his Aunt Julie Stern , a sister of
Ralph Stern's father, went to the United States. She married an American Jew
and had two children. Both of her children, as Stern recalls, died before the
age of ten and eventually before the war had even started, she was left a
widow, her husband dying in his early 50's. Julie Stern Neuman returned to
Germany to live with the Stern family. As life became more difficult for the
Jews in Germany, Ralph's parents convinced her to return again to the USA and
to use her citizenship privileges of signing affidavits that would enable the
entire family to enter the country. This was a necessary set of papers that
would guarantee that an immigrant would not become a public charge and that they
would have a guarantor. Without these forms one could not even apply for a
visa. Although she was not a wealthy person, his Aunt Julie did obtain the
forms. By gathering support from other family members in the U.S. she was able
to spearhead the effort and she secured the guarantees that were required to
obtain the necessary papers. The Stern family was put on a waiting list, subject
to U.S. immigration quotas.
While Stern was in the Leeds ORT School he received a letter from his brother
Herbert, who was two years older. It came from Italy and Herbert told of his
obtaining his release through Aunt Julie's assistance and that he was on his
way to the States. Herbert gave an address of a family friend that Ralph
should write to and hopefully they would stay in touch. At this point there was
nothing that Stern would learn of the fate of any other members of the family.
As described previously, the Dunera guards stripped almost every personal
possession that the Jews carried and even until today,Stern doesn't recall how
he managed to know the address of where his brother instructed him to write, if
able. Fifty five years after this all happened he doesn't recall having a scrap
of paper or any contact other than his memory that could have provided that
information. Shortly after his arrival at Hay, Australia, post cards were
distributed where one could check off in appropriate blocks a brief statement of
their health and impersonal greetings. Ralph sent a card to the address he
believed was where brother Herbert would receive mail. There was also a place
provided for a return address. There was no other address that he could think
of where a card could be sent. He believed as did most Jews, that their entire
families were gone. It took during that wartime period more than three months
for mail to reach the U.S.A.
Six months went by and Ralph received a letter - not from his brother - but
from his mother and father who had unbelievably escaped the gas chambers. They
were all living under the same roof with his Aunt Julie in Washington Heights,
N.Y. . Still able to get out of Germany, since the war with the USA had not as
yet commenced, and with the affidavits supplied by Aunt Julie, Ralph Stern's
parents made their way through Russia and China and eventually arrived in the
United States. When the war was over, Ralph Stern had a home waiting for him
with his family in the United States of America. His brother Herbert lives less
than a mile from him in West Palm Beach.
A few books have been written on the subject of the HMT Dunera experience as
well as the individual narratives of many of the ORT boys (as they still call
themselves) who lived through the World War II years as prisoners. Somehow,
even with the confiscation of their personal articles, many photographs,
personal diaries and precious papers still survive and have been reproduced
in publications telling of this episode. Fortunately several books have been
published in Australia and a few have made their way into the United States.
The ORT boys were a part of the war era and although they were not involved
with the concentration camps they were another phase and part of the
endurance and the hardships experienced by Jewish people as they fled from
the Nazis.
(Stanley Shotz is a freelance journalist, residing in West Palm Beach,
Florida. His wife, Sue is Vice President of the North Palm Beach County Region
of ORT
©6/95