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

Object | Accession Number: 2013.440.2

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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Agfa 44 box camera, or Preisbox, given to Heinz Stephan Lewy for his bar mitzvah in March 1938 in Berlin, Germany. He took it with him in July 1939 when he left on a Kindertransport to France. When Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Heinz was in an orphanage in Berlin, because his father Arthur was unable to care for Heinz by himself. In late 1933, Arthur was arrested because he was a Socialist and sent to Oranienburg concentration camp. He was beaten severely and had a heart attack, but was soon released. On March 11, 1938, Heinz became a bar mitzvah. Arthur was arrested for the day, but released that evening. A relative of Johanna Arzt, Arthur's second wife, sent them an affidavit for a US visa, but Arthur failed a health exam and they could not go. Heinz was placed on a Kindertransport that left July 4, 1939, for France where he lived in Quincy-sous-Sear children's home near Paris. Germany invaded France in May 1940, and that fall, Quaker aid workers took the children to Chateau de Chabannes in unoccupied France. Heinz asked the director to look for his parents and learned they were living in the US. His parents obtained a visa, and on June 25, 1942, Heinz arrived in New York. He Americanized his name to Stephan. In August 1943, he was drafted into the US Army, and assigned to the 6th Armored Division as an interpreter. Stephen arrived in France in June 1944, and advanced with his unit into Germany. He participated in the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945. The war ended in May and Stephan returned to the US in the fall.
    Date
    received:  1938 March
    manufacture:  approximately 1932-approximately 1938
    Geography
    received: Berlin (Germany)
    manufacture: Germany
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Stephan H. Lewy
    Markings
    front, embossed : Agfa
    top, handle, stamped : Agfa
    Contributor
    Subject: Stephan H. Lewy
    Manufacturer: AGFA (Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation)
    Biography
    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.

    Physical Details

    Language
    German English
    Category
    Cameras
    Object Type
    Agfa camera (lcsh)
    Physical Description
    Agfa box camera with a cardboard casing and pressed steel box rims, covered with textured black plastic, called leatherette. The front has a black metal plate with a circular rim around the recessed shutter leaf over the meniscus lens, with Agfa embossed below. The plate is reinforced by a wooden insert on the interior. Two circular viewer lenses on the upper left box corner correspond with 2 metal rimmed viewfinders on the top and left side. Below the left viewfinder are 2 silver-colored metal levers which cock and release the shutter, and a silver-colored metal film winding knob. The removable plastic back has a black metal frame and a red window in the lower left corner. On the frame top is a metal latch that fastens over a pin on the box top; 2 metal brackets on the bottom hook over pins on the box underside. Inside the box is a removable black metal magazine with slanted sides that taper then expand to a square plate that supports the plastic film roller. The film winding handle pulls out so the magazine can be removed. A leather handle is riveted to the top. There is a postwar address label on the back and an Agfa film label on the back interior.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) | Width: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) | Depth: 5.125 inches (13.017 cm)
    Materials
    overall : cardboard, metal, plastic, wood, leather, glass, paper, ink, adhesive
    Inscription
    back, label, black ink : Stephan H. Lewy [contemporary address]
    interior, label, blue and white ink : Agfa / Isochrom / B2 ∙ 6 x 9 cm

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The Agfa camera was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Stephan H. Lewy.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2024-10-03 13:01:26
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn84551

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