Walter K. and Lucie H. Sobotta papers

Walter K. Sobotta, a Roman Catholic, (b. 1889, Breslau, Germany) and Lucie Herz (b. 1891, Dresden, Germany) married on Mar. 19, 1919. They had two children, Kurt (b. 1920) and Ursula (b. 1921). In 1936, Walter lost his textile business because he was married to a Jew. Both Sobotta children managed to escape Europe before the outbreak of World War II, but Walter and Lucie were forced into the ghetto in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). During their time in the ghetto, the Gestapo arrested Walter and put him on trial for attempted food smuggling. The court convicted him and sent him to the prison in Brieg, Germany (now Brzeg, Poland). While in the prison he suffered a stroke, and as a result, became blind. The SS later executed Walter because he was unable to work. After leaving the ghetto, Lucie spent time in several concentration camps until the end of the war. After liberation, she was able to join her son in Stockholm, Sweden, with aid from the International Red Cross. She emigrated to theUnited States in Aug. 1952 to be with her daughter and son-in-law. She became a United States citizen in 1957.