The Loewenstein Family: A Story of Survival

Henry’s beloved Uncle Georg Loewenstein (Max’s brother) and his wife Alice lived near the Loewensteins. During Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), Georg, along with many other Jewish men, was taken to the Oranienburg Concentration Camp. Georg was wearing slippers, night clothes, and a robe when they came for him, yet the Nazis would not permit him to change or take a coat. When Georg was released in February 1939, his fingers and toes were badly frostbitten, and he was a broken man.

During the Kristallnacht terror, assuming that the Nazis would not return a second time after taking Georg, the Loewensteins and distant family members hid in Uncle Georg’s apartment for a few weeks.

On October 24, 1941, the Nazis again came for Uncle Georg. This time his wife Alice was taken as well and both were transported to the Łódź Ghetto, the second largest ghetto in German-occupied Poland. Maria was able to mail some food and supplies to them, but communication with those in ghettos and concentration camps was severely limited. Maria received one pre-printed note from Georg and Alice, dated February 16, 1942, thanking her for a package. It would be the last the family heard from them. According to Łódź Ghetto census records compiled by Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to victims of the Holocaust, Georg Loewenstein perished in the Łódź Ghetto, most likely from starvation. Alice Loewenstein was transported to the Chelmno Death Camp on May 15, 1942 where she was killed.