Jeff Gernsheimer will share the incredible story of his mother’s journey from Germany to England and then to the U.S. to escape the Holocaust, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room, Penn State Berks. This presentation is part of the Penn State Berks Global Forum and it is free and open to the public.
According to the Penn State Berks (Re)Writing Local History website, Hilde Gernsheimer was born on May 2, 1926, in Cloppenburg, Germany. She was one of the children to escape through the Kindertransport, an organized rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
On Dec. 2, 1938, the Kindertransport traveled to Hamburg, and landed in Harwich, near Dover, England. Hilde was then placed in a camp until she could be relocated. In late December 1939, she received a letter from their family saying that their father had been released and they were going to try to get to America via Cuba. The family was given the choice between a small freighter or a liner — the infamous SS St. Louis. Tragically, they chose the latter.
They learned immediately of the dilemma that ensued when the SS St. Louis was denied the right to harbor in Cuba. The ship then began circling Florida but could not obtain permission to land in the United States either. Eventually, they were sent back to Europe. It was 1950 before Hilde learned the fate of her parents.
This event is sponsored by the Penn State Berks global studies program. For more information, contact Zohra Melaouah-Shaffer at [email protected].
