Agfa Box 44 camera carried with a German Jewish boy on a Kindertransport to France

Heinz Stephan Lewy was born on March 11, 1925, in Berlin, Germany, to a Jewish father and Protestant mother, Arthur and Gertrude Puls Lewy. Arthur, born on July 16, 1893, was orphaned at age 7 and lived in the Baruch Auerbach orphanage from 1902-1909. He served in the German army in World War I (1914-1918.) Gertrude was born on October 10, 1897, to Herman and Minna Puls, and had 2 brothers. Arthur and Gertrude married on March 12, 1919. They owned a tobacco shop. Gertrude was sickly and died in early 1931. Arthur could not take care of Heinz by himself, and in early 1932, he placed Heinz in the Auerbach orphanage, where he lived with about 100 other children. Heinz attended a public school and visited his father on Sundays.

In January 1933, Hitler came to power and, by summer, Germany was ruled by a Nazi dictatorship. Because Arthur was a socialist, he was arrested and sent to Oranienburg concentration camp. He was severely beaten, had a heart attack, and lost all his teeth, but was released. The government actively persecuted Jews, and circa 1935, Heinz was no longer allowed to attend public school. He walked 45 minutes to a Jewish school. After leaving school, they were often met by Hitler Youth who whipped Heinz and the other Jewish children with belts. Police stood by, making sure the Jewish students did not defend themselves. Non-Jewish friends stopped playing with him, threatened with reduced rations if they associated with Jews. In early 1938, Arthur married Johanna Arzt (b. 1903). In March 1938, Heinz celebrated his bar mitzvah. After they returned home, Arthur was arrested. He was released later that evening after being presented with a medal for his WWI service. Arthur was forced to sell his business to a non-Jew at a reduced price, but worked illegally at night. Johanna worked as a bookkeeper. November 9-10, 1938, was the Kristallnacht pogrom. Heinz and the other children in the orphanage were locked in the adjoining synagogue for two days. A gas line was cut, but one of the boys broke the windows so they could breathe. After Kristallnacht, Heinz’s maternal uncles cut off contact with him. Arthur was in danger of being arrested again, so he and Johanna devised a warning system. Arthur left the apartment every night and if Johanna put a birdcage in the window, it meant the Gestapo was waiting for him, and he knew not to come back. The family tried to leave and booked passage to the United States, Cuba, and China. Johanna had a relative, Bert Klapper, in Boston who provided an affidavit for a visa, but Arthur failed the health exam because he had high blood pressure and they could not go.

Arthur and Johanna were desperate to get 14 year old Heinz to safety and sent him to France on a Kindertransport on July 4, 1939. He and the other refugees lived in the Quincy-sous-Senart children's home, a castle near Paris. Heinz was put in grade school to learn French. On September 1, 1939, the war began when Germany invaded Poland. Heinz lost contact with his parents. In May 1940, Germany invaded France. Heinz and the other refugees fled south, but returned to Quincy. Their castle had been occupied by German soldiers, who allowed them to stay in exchange for doing chores. In fall 1940, Quaker aid workers took Heinz’s group to Paris, then to Chateau de Chabannes in unoccupied France, to be cared for by the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (Society for Rescuing Children). In 1941, Heinz completed training in the leather trade from the Organization for Rehabilitative Training (ORT). Heinz asked the director to contact the Red Cross to find his parents. In early 1942, he learned that they were in Massachusetts. Shortly after Heinz was sent to France, Arthur passed a second health exam, and sailed to the US from Antwerp in February 1940. He and Joanna got an affidavit for Heinz, but his visa was denied until Johanna wrote to President Roosevelt and pleaded that Heinz be granted a visa. On June 7, 1942, Heinz sailed from Casablanca on a Portuguese ship, the Serpa Pinto, with a large group of refugee children. In the middle of the Atlantic, they were boarded by a German submarine, but were allowed to continue. On June 25, they arrived in Brooklyn and Heinz was reunited with his parents.

The family lived in Boston and Heinz Americanized his name to Stephan. He got a job in the office of a mining company. Stephan was considered an enemy alien and had to carry a special passport. In March 1943, Stephan, now 18, registered for the draft. On August 20, he was inducted into the US Army and trained as an interpreter at Camp Ritchie. He became an American citizen after three months of service. In June 1944, he was sent to London and assigned to the 6th Armored Division, Third Army. In mid-June 1944, he deployed to France, where he interrogated German prisoners of war. At the end of March 1945, his unit advanced into Germany. On April 11, 1945, Stephan participated in the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp, where he witnessed walking skeletons and piles of bodies. He assisted aid efforts by translating conversations for medical professionals. He went to a nearby town and to inform the mayor that they were taking 100 civilians to the camp the next day to bury bodies. The Germans denied knowing about the camp. After about three days, his unit moved on to meet Soviet forces in Chemnitz. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, and the war ended in Europe. Stephan, now a staff sergeant, was placed on occupation duty in Aschaffenburg, searching for and arresting former Nazi Party members.

Stephan was awarded the Bronze Star for his meritorious service as an order of battle analyst and for obtaining information on enemy operations from captured German and French nationals. In July 1945, Stephan was notified that his father Arthur had died of a stroke. He was reassigned to the Pacific theater, but en route, the war ended when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. Stephan was discharged on November 16, 1945. He returned to his job at the mining company and completed his high school education at night. In 1946, he met Frances Silver (1927-2010), who was from Boston. They married on September 3, 1949. The couple had two children. Stephan graduated from Northeastern University. He worked as a public accountant, then in the hotel business. Stephan frequently tells his story to schools and other groups as a lesson of what might happen if people do not act.