Uncle Kurt and Holocaust
On 16-17 October, 2019. The United States Holocaust Museum sponsored Patrice's 89-year-old Uncle Kurt Maier, Emeritus Librarian, Library of Congress (German collection). Kurt, a Holocaust survivor with a wicked sense of humor, described his (short) life in a small German town and his escape as a ten-year-old from Germany. Patrice's grandparents, her fathe and this Uncle Kurt, were of the few. Jews of the German town, Kippenheim (Baden-Wurttenburg), to escape the Holocaust.
Harry is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco.
Patrice's father, Harry Meier – Holocaust survivor, American soldier, Berlin, 1947-49; Vietnam, 1970, is one of tens of thousands of young German immigrants, Henry Kissinger among them, who joined or were drafted into the American Army to defeat, then denazify Germany.
Patrice was vaguely aware of this history. It wasn't a family mealtime topic; like so many trauma survivors, her parents and grandparents 'got on with their lives.' The survivor doesn't notice the "phantom" pain. From the child's perspective, s/he has a semi-crazed mother and/or father who had a rough time long ago. Who doesn't think their parents aren't crazy now and then?
Kurt Meier lectures regularly about the holocaust in German high schools, returning often to his hometown, Kippenheim, Germany.
The Madison apartment is empty. Five suitcases have been shipped ahead to England. Our remaining possessions are in storage for later shipment to France. We debark on Aer Lingus Flight on Wednesday evening.
The Michael Dobb's book, The Unwanted, describes the flight of the Kippenheim jews. Patrice's family escaped murder by days.