Leo Freyer (1893-1987) was born in Lyck, East Prussia (now Ełk, Poland) into a Jewish Orthodox family. His parents, Selmar (1860?-1929) and Flora (née Lewinsky, 1863-1944) had ten other children, including Pauline (Paula, 1895-1943). Leo served in World War I. He met Eva Lichtenstein while he was stationed in Königsberg, East Prussia after her father, Max Lichtenstein, opened his home to Jewish soldiers serving in the German Army.
Eva Lichtenstein (1895-1987) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) to Max (1860-1942) and Johanna (née Samuel, 1861-1935). Eva had one sister, Käthe (1890-1943), and three brothers, Erwin (1901-1993), Tony (1892-1894), and Heinz (1904-1990). Max was a prominent lawyer, member of the city council, and active in B’nai Brith.
Leo and Eva married in Königsberg in 1920. They had two daughters, Ursula Brigitte (Ulla, b. 1921) and Marion (later Marion Wolff, b. 1928). The Freyers lived in Berlin where Leo owned a button and buckle factory. By 1936, Ursula and Marion were no longer allowed to attend public schools under Nazi rule and enrolled in a private Jewish school. By 1938, Leo lost his business and began to look for ways to emigrate from Germany. He received affidavits from his American cousin Max Lindner and Max’s nephew, Carlos Israels. The Freyers received notice that they would be granted visas in July 1939 and on 15 November 1939 they left Germany for Rotterdam where they boarded the SS Rotterdam on 22 November 1939 to sail to the United States. The family stayed for a month in a shelter run by the American Jewish Congress and then settled in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1940.
Marion married Hans Wolff in 1950. Wolff was a former classmate Marion reconnected with after reading an article about him in the German-Jewish American newspaper, Aufbau. Hans and his sister Marianne escaped from Germany to England on a Kindertransport in 1939. They both immigrated to the United States, where Hans changed his name to John and joined the army. The couple adopted a German girl in 1958. Marion was a math teacher and John was a biochemist at the National Institutes of Health. Marion is also the author of three books about her life and Holocaust experiences: For Rebecca: the story of my other life, The shrinking circle: memories of Nazi Berlin, 1933-1939, and The expanding circle: an adoption odyssey.
Leo’s mother Flora perished at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1944, and his sister Paula perished at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. Eva’s father Max perished at Theresienstadt in 1942 and her sister Käthe perished at the Majdanek concentration camp in 1943.
Eva Lichtenstein (1895-1987) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) to Max (1860-1942) and Johanna (née Samuel, 1861-1935). Eva had one sister, Käthe (1890-1943), and three brothers, Erwin (1901-1993), Tony (1892-1894), and Heinz (1904-1990). Max was a prominent lawyer, member of the city council, and active in B’nai Brith.
Leo and Eva married in Königsberg in 1920 after meeting when her father opened his house to Jewish soldiers in the German Army stationed in Königsberg. They had two daughters, Ursula Brigitte (Ulla, b. 1921) and Marion (later Marion Wolff, b. 1928). They Freyers lived in Berlin where Leo owned a button and buckle factory. By 1936, Ursula and Marion were no longer allowed to attend public school and enrolled in a private Jewish school. By 1938, Leo lost his business and began to look for ways to emigrate from Germany. He received affidavits from his American cousin Max Lindner and Max’s nephew, Carlos Israels. The Freyers received notice that they would be granted visas in July 1939 and on 15 November 1939 they left Germany for Rotterdam where they boarded the SS Rotterdam on 22 November 1939 to sail to the United States. The family stayed for a month in a shelter run by the American Jewish Congress and then settled in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1940.
Eva’s father Max perished at Theresienstadt in 1942 and her sister Käthe perished at the Majdanek concentration camp in 1943.
