Hans Vogel diary

Hans Yakov Vogel (December 3, 1926-1943), was born in Cologne, Germany, the son of Simon (b. 1898) and Hannah Vogel (b.1898), and had a younger brother, Walter Joseph (August 1, 1929). Hans’ paternal grandfather, Jacob Yakov Vogel, was prominent in a Jewish congregation and worked in the chemical and steel trade, which both Simon and Hannah adopted as their professions. The family celebrated major holidays and attended synagogue regularly. Walter and Hans attended a Jewish day school.

In May 1936, Simon and Hannah planned a departure from Germany. The family, along with their nanny, Ruth Heymann, arrived in Paris by train where they resided in a Jewish community for several years. In 1937, Walter became sick with jaundice and was hospitalized from the spring of 1938 to the spring of 1939. Upon his return to Paris, his parents left for a trip to the United States for a work opportunity, sending Walter, Hans, and Ruth to a resort in France for the summer of 1939. Simon and Hannah returned to France in August 1939. A week later, while visiting Walter, Hans, and Ruth on vacation, Simon was arrested and sent to the Lisieux detention camp, and later Gurs. Hannah, Walter, Hans, and Ruth remained in Paris until Ruth was arrested and detained in Gurs in April 1940.

Hannah, Walter, and Hans left Paris on May 13, 1940. When Simon was released from Gurs, the family reunited and settled in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, in the unoccupied zone, near the Spanish border. They remained there from June 1940 until April 1941, when they received papers from the United States Consulate allowing them to immigrate. They arrived in New York via Lisbon on the steamer Nyassa in August 1941. Hans Vogel died at the age of 16 from an illness in 1943.