Oral history interview with Egon J. Salmon

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 2017.215.2 | RG Number: RG-50.977.0002

Overview

Interview Summary: Egon J. Salmon, born in 1924 in the Rheydt part of Dusseldorf, Germany, discusses his early life in Germany; the beginning of the restrictions for Jews in 1933; his family’s work in the textile business; how Kristallnacht was the deciding factor for their family to leave Germany; events on Kristallnacht, including the arrest of his father and his imprisonment in Dachau; the release of his father four weeks later; his father’s move to the United States, where he was turned away; his father’s move to Cuba; his father applying for entry visas to Cuba for the entire family; sailing on the SS St. Louis; the voyage; arriving in Havana and not being permitted to disembark; the formation of a passenger committee to relocate the passengers in different countries and Captain Schröder tried to help them; returning to Europe until he received a visa in March 1940 and left on April 15, 1940 by ship to the US; arriving in New York, NY and reuniting with his father; adjusting to the US; starting high school and being drafted before graduating; being assigned to the US Army infantry; being shipped to Spartanburg, South Carolina where he was trained for combat; becoming a citizen before he was sent overseas; being sent to North Africa; being sent in 1943 to Naples, Italy, where he remained until 1945; the antisemitism in his unit; the end of the war and being placed in a unit of occupation in Austria for nine months; returning to the US; the fates of his extended family; his feelings that having been aboard the SS St. Louis affected his life; and his belief that he survived due to his father’s actions and good luck.
Interviewee: Mr. Egon J. Salmon
Date: interview: 2013 March
Geography: creation: Boca Raton (Fla.)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Sammy Eppel, Daniel Benaim, and Fernando Duprat

Physical Details

Language: English
Genre/Form: Documentary films.
Extent: 1 digital file : MPEG-4.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: Restrictions on use. Restrictions may exist. Contact the Museum for further information: reference@ushmm.org

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Americanization. Anti-Jewish boycotts. Antisemitism. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives. Jewish businesspeople--Germany. Jewish families--Germany. Jews--Germany--Rheydt. Textile industry. World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Africa, North. World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Italy. World War, 1939-1945--Italy--Naples. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish. World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States. World War, 1939-1945. Men--Personal narratives.
Geographic Name: Africa, North. Austria--History--Allied occupation, 1945-1955. Düsseldorf (Germany) Havana (Cuba) Naples (Italy) New York (N.Y.) Rheydt (Germany) Spartanburg (S.C.) United States--Emigration and immigration.
Personal Name: Salmon, Egon, 1924- Schröder, Gustav, 1885-1959.
Corporate Name: St. Louis (Ship) United States. Army

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Sammy Eppel, Daniel Benaim, and Fernando Duprat donated the interviews with St. Louis passengers and academic experts, recorded for their documentary film "Turned Away", to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on May 3, 2017.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Special Collection: The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive

Record last modified:: 2023-11-16 09:41:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn561514

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Oral history interviews with St. Louis passengers and academic experts gathered for the documentary film "Turned Away"

Oral history interview with Arno Motulsky

Oral History

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