Betty Sklow papers

Betty Sklow (née Behrendt, 1880-1961) was born on October 30, 1880 in Magdeburg, Germany to Adolph and Rosa Jeanette Behrendt. Hermann Sklow (1870-1938) was born on March 14, 1870 to Wolf and Pauline Sklow. Betty Behrendt married Hermann Sklow on July 6, 1927 and had two daughters while in Gera, Germany. Charlotte (Lottie) was born in 1905 and Helene (Leni) was born in 1907. From 1896-1933, Herman Sklow worked at the department store Hermann Tietz. In 1933 Hermann was forced to resign from his position as the branch director. The Sklow family then moved to Berlin. Hermann attempted to escape Nazi persecution but was arrested and put on trial. He died in custody at the police headquarters in Berlin on October 18, 1938. Upon receiving her husband’s ashes, Betty was informed by the German police that Hermann had committed suicide. In 1939 Betty obtained passage on the MS St. Louis. After the ship was denied entry to Cuba and the United States, Betty finally disembarked in the Netherlands. She stayed in Bussum, Netherlands with Leopold Rosenthal, the brother of her son-in-law, and his family. On April 26, 1940, Betty departed Antwerp, Belgium on the SS Pennland and arrived in New York on May 16, 1940. The passenger manifest lists Betty as being able to read both German and English. Betty joined her daughters in the United States and became a naturalized citizen on January 15, 1946 in New York. Betty Sklow died on October 15, 1961 in New York.

In 1923, Charlotte Sklow (1904-1985) married William Rosenthal (Willy, 1896-1972) and had three children: Brigitte (later Brita Williams, 1925-1983), Ursula Frangiamore (1928-? ), and Peter (later Peter Roark, 1929-2000). By 1939, the Rosenthal family had fled Germany and immigrated to the United States. Helene Sklow (1907-1979) also fled Germany and immigrated to Cuba. By the time her mother arrived in New York in May 1940, Helene Sklow had already left Cuba and been reunited with her sister Charlotte Rosenthal in New York.