- Interview Summary
- Ben Abramowitz, born October 8, 1934 at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, discusses his father Reuben Abramowitz’s military career, during which he advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; his father’s service during World War I; his father’s work as NCO-in-Charge of the Code and Traffic Division, US Army Signal School and his service in the Signal Corps during World War II; his father’s emigration from Ukraine at five years of age; his mother Olga’s involvement with Hadassah and her efforts to help European refugees; his grandmother Dora Holz’s efforts in the late 1930s to help European relatives immigrate to the US, which included asking a bank president to falsify a record so that it appeared as though she had enough money to support her relatives; traveling with his mother to Ansbach, Germany to join his father who became the commandant of the European Command Signal School in Ansbach; his experiences as an American 12 year old visiting displaced persons camps and attending the Nuremberg trails; his Bar Mitzvah in a rebuilt synagogue in Ansbach; the attendance of many displaced persons at his Bar Mitzvah; his mother’s care for displaced persons, including the German family whose home was taken over by the American military; the legacy of his mother’s work on behalf of displaced persons; how his experiences as a young man in Germany influenced his adult life, including his concern for child welfare, feeding the hungry, helping refugees, and supporting charities; passing on the importance of volunteer work to his three sons; the impact World War II had on the lives of anyone who lived through the time period; and his pride in his family’s 100 years of service in the US Army, which has included the service of his three sons David, Sid, and Alan along with his grandsons Jacob and Alex.
- Interviewee
- Abramowitz, COL Benjamin L.
- Interviewer
- Friedman, Lt. COL Gene
- Date
-
interview:
2016 July 15
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Colonel Benjamin L. Abramowitz
