Kurt Klein (1920-2002)

Kurt Klein was born and raised in Walldorf, Germany. After Hitler came to power, the Kleins began to realize they did not have much future in Germany. His sister emigrated to the United States, and 17-year-old Kurt followed her in 1937. The next year they were joined in America by their brother. During the Kristallnacht attacks on German Jews, the Kleins' home was vandalized. Later Klein's parents were forced to move into a room over a stable, and in 1940 they were deported to a detention camp in France. The children tried to obtain visas that would enable their parents to join them in America, but they were hampered by bureaucratic red tape and a shortage of money. When they finally succeeded in obtaining the visas in 1942, their parents had already been deported to Eastern Europe.

Kurt Klein was drafted in 1942, and served in the U.S. Army during the war as an intelligence officer. After the end of the war, he learned that his parents had died at Auschwitz. He married Gerda Weissmann in 1946, and brought her to live with him in Buffalo, New York, where he operated a printing business. Kurt Klein frequently travels with his wife to lecture about their experiences during the war. He is also featured in the PBS series, America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference.

Reprinted from: Escaping the Final Solution, McDougal Littell

"... Along with your minds, I would ask that you educate your hearts so you will learn to have better understanding of others who may be different from you, and that you will never allow hatred and intolerance to take over the way they did in the past."