WW I Baden Cross for Volunteer War Aid awarded to a German Jewish veteran

Oskar Salomon Ehrmann was born on July 4, 1893, in Nussloch, Germany, to Jewish parents, Helene Richheimer (1856-1942, US) and August Ehrmann (1853-1898). He had two brothers, Wilhelm (1891-1950, Israel), and Ferdinand (1895-1953, US) and two sisters, Nani (1889-1906) and Mina (1882-1964, US). During World War I (1914-1918), Oskar and his brothers served as an officer in the German Army. Oskar was awarded a Cross of Honor for his service on the front line. After the war, he became a merchant. Oskar married Regina Menges, born 1896, and they had two sons, Hans, (1923-1985), and Rolf, (1925-1966). Regina died in October 1935. Oskar married Friedericke (Friedel) Mayer, who was also Jewish, on August 7, 1936. Friedel was born on July 9, 1909 in Leimen, Germany, to Hugo, born 1864, and Karoline, born 1879, Bierig Mayer. Friedel had two younger brothers, Gustav (1910-1969), and Kurt (1921-2007).

The Jewish population was increasingly persecuted by the Nazi dictatorship which took power in Germany in 1933. Jews were barred from jobs and their property and businesses were confiscated or subject to forced sales. Oskar decided to leave Germany with his family. In March 1937, as part of his preparations for emigration, Oskar applied for a leave of absence from the local military command in Heidelberg, which was granted through the end of his compulsory military service. In summer 1937, Oskar, Friedel, and the boys, 14 year old Hans and 12 year old Rolf, and Friedel's brother Gustav, sailed to America on the Bremen, arriving on June 1. The family settled in Toms River, NJ. He Americanized his name to Oscar. His brother Ferdinand, his wife Anna, and children Ruth, 8, and Norbert, 7, arrived in the US in November 1937. Oskar's mother Helene and sister Mina arrived on June 30, 1938. Friedel's brother Kurt fled to Great Britain in July 1939. Oscar and Friedel made efforts to get many other family members to America. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. In spring 1940, Friedel’s brother Kurt was interned for five months as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man. Friedel and Oscar had a son on March 3, 1940. Oskar, 47, passed away on June 9, 1940.

The war in Europe ended with Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. Friedel's parents and other family members who remained in Germany did not survive. In October 1940, her parents Hugo and Karoline were deported to Gurs internment camp in France. In February 1941, they were sent to Noe detention camp where Hugo died of illness on January 1, 1942. Her mother Karoline was transferred to le Vernet detention camp in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 where she was killed. Friedel's brother Kurt immigrated from England to the US in 1957. Friedel, 94, passed away in October 2003, in Tom's River, NJ.