Ernest Steen papers

Ernest Steen (1911-1987) was born Ernst Levistein on 15 July 1911 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany to Henrietta (1881-1942, née Langenbach) and Adolf Levistein (1881-1935). He had one sister Erna (b. 1907, later Erna Oppenheim). Prior to the war, Ernest worked for R. & W. Nathan, a women’s and children’s shoe manufacturer in Frankfurt.

Ernest’s employment was terminated in 1938, and he left Germany for London. He immigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Scythia in May 1940. He moved to Chicago where he knew the family of Carl Nathan. He was drafted into the United States Army in December 1942. Ernest received military intelligence training at Camp Ritchie (Camp Albert C. Ritchie) in Maryland in 1943. He was attached to the 80th Infantry Division (APO 80), 317th Infantry Regiment. In Europe he interrogated German prisoners-of-war and interpreted captured documents. Ernest was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.

He was discharged from the army in December 1945, and returned to Chicago. Ernest worked as a shoe salesman, and married Ruth Liss on 24 December 1950. They had two daughters, Helene (b. 1952), and Jacqui (b. 1954, later Jacqu Barrientos).

Ernest’s sister immigrated to the United States prior to World War II, and lived with her family in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother Henrietta was unable to secure a visa to emigrate from Germany. She was deported from Frankfurt on 19 October 1941 to Łódź ghetto, where she perished on 8 February 1942 in the ghetto hospital.