And there is no going back: a story of patience, persistence, and perseverance

2013·25.2 MB·English

by  Shiffers, Judith L

A Story of Patience, Persistence,
and Perseverance

And There Is No Going Back
A Story of Patience, Persistence, and Perseverence

by Judith L. Shiffers
© 2013 by Judith Shiffers
To the descendants of Stephan and Liese Shiffers:
May the courage and the strength of character of your ancestors
always inspire you.
IN MEMORIAM:
Rosa Schifferes Allina
David “Dori” Allina
Fritz Allina
Elsbeth “Ella” Deutsch
Dr. Eduard Deutsch
Heinrich “Heini” Pollak
Carl Pollak
Elisabeth “Else” Ringer
Arthur Schifferes
Karl Schifferes
Katharina “Kitti” Siebenschein
Raphael and Erna Siebenschein
Willibald “Willi” and Anna Siebenschein
Georg and Berta Strauss
Foreword
Far too often, we happen upon old photos when there is no one left to identify the sepia-tinted
portraits. If we are lucky, we may have a few treasured family heirlooms, or photographs of our
grandparents or great-grandparents, our extended family, or our parents as children or young
adults. Inevitably we wonder: What were they like? What did they think? What did they want?
To see these relatives as they were, and hear them speak in their own words, is very rare
indeed. The photos, documents, and extensive correspondence chronicled in these pages offer a
remarkable window into the past and document a moment of historic turmoil through glimpses
of the minutiae of daily life: rendez-vous and recipes, the hopes and dreams of young lovers,
and the worries and reassurances of concerned parents, all amid the tightening snare of the
Nazi regime and increasing hurdles to emigration. The letters are just as eloquent in their
lacunae—the silences masking fears or regrets they dared not express, or coded references to
imprisoned friends and family members. The contents of the “straw suitcase” were a treasure
trove indeed, and these volumes are a legacy for succeeding generations and a valuable source
for historians and other researchers.
Diane Levy, July 2012
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CHRONOLOGY

March 12, 1938 German Anschluss (annexation of Austria)
June 4, 1938 Steffi submits application for emigration
June 13, 1938 Steffi arrives in Stuttgart for sports school
June 16, 1938 Steffi begins studies at Orthopädisches Gymnastisches Institut
Alice Bloch, Stuttgart, Zeppelinstrasse 32
June 21, 1938 Hugo Strauss has streetcar accident; he is released from hospital
on August 12, 1938
July 18, 1938 Liese realizes that because of the eviction from their apartment,
they must leave Austria
August 15, 1938 Pepi Deutsch [Dewton] and family arrive in the U.S.
August 19, 1938 Liese has strep throat
August 19, 1938 Bertha sells her belongings
September 1, 1938 Bertha’s Austrian passport becomes invalid. General rules
become more stringent (letter from Liese August 22, 1938)
September 16, 1938 Steffi writes about blackouts in Stuttgart
November 9, 1938 Kristallnacht
November 13, 1938 Steffi is arrested and sent to Dachau
November 19, 1938 Liese leaves Europe on SS Normandie
November 29, 1938 Onkel Alfred [Kurz] leaves Vienna for Switzerland
January 4, 1939 Hugo Strauss becomes Konsulent (consultant), no longer a
lawyer
January 4, 1939 Steffi is released from Dachau
January 18, 1939 Tante Stephy has no work and wants to leave
Hede writes to Liese in America that Dr. Adler absolutely wants to
continue the sports course
Hede writes to Liese about Karl’s divorce
March 14, 1939 Tante Stephy arrives in USA
March 22, 1939 Steffi leaves Vienna for England
March 24, 1939 Steffi arrives in Lichfield, England
March 28, 1939 Hede and Hans leave Vienna
April 6, 1939 Onkel Emil [Kurz] arrives in New York
April 15, 1939 Hede and Hans depart from Cherbourg on SS Europa
April 18, 1939 Bertha leaves Vienna for England
June 19, 1939 Grete Deutsch arrives in USA
August 18, 1939 Steffi leaves England on SS President Harding
August 26, 1939 Steffi arrives in New York
August 27, 1939 Liese and Steffi are married in Washington, D.C.
September 3, 1939 British declaration of war on Germany
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October 6, 1939 Onkel Alfred leaves from Genoa on SS Rex
October 14, 1939 Onkel Alfred arrives in USA
November 1939–April 1940 Steffi works as masseur at Mayflower Hotel
January 6, 1940 Hugo Strauss writes to Liese that Tante Else had to move again
February 2, 1940 Hugo and Sophie Strauss leave Vienna for Trieste
February 7, 1940 Hugo and Sophie leave Europe on board the SS Vulcania from
Trieste
February 21, 1940 Hugo and Sophie Strauss arrive in USA
February 2, 1940 Bertha hears Eden speech on radio in Burley and is proud that
she understands the English
April 1940 Steffi begins working at Health Club, Ambassador Hotel
May 30–June 20, 1940 Bertha is interned on Isle of Man
July 1940 Liese begins working at “Bavaria” restaurant in Washington, D.C.
July 5, 1940 Bertha arrives in USA
December 5, 1940 Hugo Strauss writes from Chicago, ”... be careful of what you
write”
May 1941 Tante Stephy, who is already in Chicago, writes that by the end of
the year all Jews must be out of Vienna
Spring 1941 Eva Julia Shiffers, the “first” American, is born
March 24, 1941 Tante Stephy writes, “We must be thankful that we are here
[where] there are possibilities to accomplish something”
December 7, 1941 Japan attacks U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; four days
later Hitler declares war on United States
April 4, 1944 Liese becomes a U.S. citizen
July 5, 1944 Steffi becomes a U.S. citizen

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