David Sando (1909-2002) was born David Sandomirski on 7 November 1909 in Vienna, Austria to Feige and Aron Sandomirski. His parents owned a sausage factory, but after it failed they earned their living as landlords for a building they owned.
David married Edith Menkes in May 1938 in Vienna. He worked as professional piano player who performed in nightclubs. In August 1938, after his father learned that David was on a list to be arrested, he and Edith fled Vienna and went to Cologne, Germany. They heard about a man who would be able to smuggle them out of the country, but became suspicious and instead ended up taking a train to Basel, Switzerland. Edith wrote to her cousin in France who was a professional smuggler. He drove a taxi across the French-Swiss border and illegally transported them into France. They first went to Paris and then settled in Lyon. Eventually Edith’s father, Ludwig Menkes, and her brother, Otto Menkes, joined them from Vienna.
Edith and David made their living by buying silk scarves on consignment and then selling them
at a flea market. During a round-up of refugees from Austria and Germany, David, Ludwig, and
Otto were arrested and taken to an internment camp outside of Lyon. David remembered that when
he was thirteen years old, Henry Meschel, an associate of his father’s, visited the family and gave
David his business card, saying “If you ever find yourself in the United States please look me up.”
David had been carrying the card around in his wallet ever since. Edith began correspondence with Mr. Meschel and was able to get an affidavit of support from him for her husband. She also
corresponded with her extended family who lived in Washington, DC, to get affidavits for herself, her father, and brother. She went to see U.S. Consul John Johnson in Lyon who was very helpful in getting them out of France. In December 1939, David was released from the camp, and since the
French considered him a “dangerous criminal,” he was escorted in handcuffs by the police to the ship that took him to the United States. Edith stayed behind to take care of her brother and father, and amonth later in January 1940, Edith and her family sailed on board the DeGrasse to the United States.
David’s parents had made plans to emigrate from Austria, but delayed their departure and were unable to leave. They were deported to Riga, Latvia on 11 January 1942 where they perished.
