Julius Beer papers

Julius Beer was born on June 16, 1922 in Hamburg, Germany to Salka and Robert Beer. He had a sister, Hella Beer. The family moved to Antwerp, Belgium following Kristallnacht. He enlisted in the Belgian army on May 11, 1940. He was taken prisoner after the Battle of Dunkirk and spent time building fortifications before being sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. He was assigned the number 72316. He escaped during a death march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald concentration. He returned to Antwerp, Belgium. He learned his parents and sister, Hella, perished at the Birkenau concentration camp. Julius Beer immigrated to the United States in 1947 and married Anita, an American Jewish woman, in 1953. They had two children, Robert (b. 1954) and Sally (b. 1956).