The Loewenstein Family: A Story of Survival
Max Moses Loewenstein, the eldest child of Emil and Ernestine Loewenstein, was born on May 17, 1885 in Lessen, West Prussia. As a young man, Max left his hometown to study medicine at the University of Munich in Germany. Beginning in 1908, he served as a ship's doctor in the Middle East, Africa, and throughout the Far East. In 1910, he moved to Berlin, Germany to serve as Assistant Doctor at the Berlin-Moabit City hospital and later as a doctor at Berlin’s Charité Hospital.
Max submitted his dissertation, "Diagnosis of Children's Leukemia," on May 8, 1913 to the Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Berlin and received his medical degree. During World War I, Max served as a doctor for four years with the rank of a commissioned officer. He cared for German troops on the front lines, on both the Eastern and Western fronts in Galicia and France. Max was awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his bravery. In 1919 he settled in Berlin, where he specialized in dermatology and venereal disease.
Portrait of Dr. Max Loewenstein, before World War II.
It was in Berlin that Max met Maria Steinberg (née Bäetge), a widowed artist raising a daughter, Karin, from her first marriage. Max and Maria married in 1925, had a son Henry (Heinrich), and built a life together. The two remained in Berlin throughout World War II, surviving the Holocaust and several attempts to transport Max to Eastern death camps.
After the War ended, the couple and Karin immigrated to the United States in 1946, making their new home in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Max died not two years later, on February 3, 1948.
