Clara Davids was born in 1865 in Krefeld, Germany, to Caroline Falkenstein Davids (1842-1909). Her family had lived in the area for centuries, and there were many relatives in the region. She had a sister, Rosalie (1870-1938), and six brothers, Max, Valentine, Moritz, Herman, David and ? Clara’s sister, Rosalie, married Michael Hermanns and had six children: Julius (1891-1942), Fritz, Sophie (1896-1942, Henrietta (1901-1986), and two sons who died in World War I (1914-1918). Around 1895, Clara married Max Berg, who was born in 1860 in Lechenich (Erfstadt), Germany, a small farming community near Cologne. He had a brother Jonas. His family had lived in the area since the 1600s. The family was Jewish Orthodox. Max was president of the local synagogue association, and his brother Jonas, who died during the 1920s, was cantor. The couple had two sons, Josef, born in 1896, and George, born in 1898, who worked with their father as cattle dealers. Josef married Klara Meyer, who was born November 13, 1904. Josef and Klara had two daughters, Inge, born on March 27, 1929, and Gisela, born on May 1, 1933.
After Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, antisemitic restrictions became increasingly harsh. Max had to arrange to have a non-Jew run his business. The family was warned by neighbors of the impending Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, and moved into hiding in Cologne. Their seventeen room house was broken into and most of their belongings were destroyed. The following week, their two sons and a cousin, Ernest Berg, fled to the Netherlands to escape arrest and were imprisoned for illegal entry. Josef's brother-in-law, Herman Meyer, a resident of Holland, contacted a leader of the Jewish community in Rotterdam, Maurice Silversmit, and hired an attorney to secure them permission to remain.
Max and the other family members decided to seek a country where they could relocate legally. Rosel Marx Berg, (b. February 20, 1911) wife of Karl (b. December 26, 1892), contacted a relative, Arnold Strauss, who had immigrated to England, for help. He, in turn, asked his younger brother, Herman Strauss, who worked for a law firm in Kenya, to help secure visas for the Berg family. Strauss paid the mandatory 50 pounds per person and acquired entry papers to Kenya, a British colony. Josef, Ernest, and George were released around May on the condition that they leave for Kenya. Josef and George left England for Mombasa on May 11, 1939. They were briefly detained, then found a place to live in Nairobi. Ernest married Else Geisel in Maurice Silversmit’s home in Rotterdam. They then went to Genoa, Italy, to join the family members coming from Germany: Max and Clara, Josef's family: Gisela, Inge, and Klara Meyer Berg, Klara's mother, Berta Meyer, and Berta's sister Sara Meyer Berg, and Karl’s family, Rosel Marx Berg and her 18 month old son Egon. They sailed on board the German ship, SS Usambara. A Jewish refugee organization arranged for them to get kosher food during the voyage. They arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, in June 1939. Karl and Josef Berg arrived from Germany in August.
That September, Great Britain declared war on Germany following the invasion of Poland. The British colonial government arrested all adult male foreign nationals, including eighty year old Max. They were put in an internment center prior to transport to a detention camp. The next day, Clara went to the center and told the British authorities that after forty-five years of marriage, she goes where Max goes. She said that if they were going to take him, they had to take her; she did not want him to be alone. They told her that they would leave him here. After review, they released all the Berg family members. The men were required to work on the farms of British citizens conscripted for war service. Throughout the war, the Bergs had the status of enemy aliens and could leave their homes only with the permission of a police commissioner.
The Bergs purchased a 375-acre farm in Limuru and 125 acres in Maguga where they raised thoroughbred cattle and pyrethrum, a flowering plant used to make insecticide. There were two houses, with tin roofs and cement floors, and no electricity or indoor plumbing, although they eventually had running water. Max and Clara lived with Josef and his family. Karl and Josef had brought the Sefer Torah with them. It had been purchased by their uncle Karl Schwarz, who stayed behind. The family held their own religious services on the farm since they could not drive to Nairobi on the Sabbath. George was the cantor. In order to earn money for the children’s school fees, Klara ran a vacation boarding house and they had guests every weekend. After a few months, Inge and Gisela were sent to a British style boarding school in Nairobi.
After Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Herman Meyer, Adolf and Erna Meyer Baum and their daughter Hannah, who had left Germany in 1937, fled to Kenya with one suitcase. With the birth of Philip John Berg to Ernest and Else in 1942, there were now seventeen family members in exile. The family was able to send packages and correspond with family members in Germany. In July 1942, Clara received a letter from her brother Max Davids informing her that he and his wife Betty were being deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in German annexed Czechoslovakia, where their other siblings, Valentin and his wife Hedwig, and Moritz and his wife Ida, were already interned. That was the last letter she received. Max died in 1942, age 82. Clara passed away in 1945. They were both buried in the Jewish cemetery in Nairobi. After the war ended in May 1945, the family learned that most of their relatives had perished in the Holocaust. Clara had nearly 100 cousins in Krefeld, none of whom survived. The Berg family members decided to leave Kenya. In 1947, they emigrated to the United States.
Inge Eva Berg was born on March 27, 1929, in Cologne, Germany, to Josef and Klara Meyer Berg. She was raised in the small farming community of Lechenich where her father Josef was born in 1896 to Max and Clara Davids Berg. Josef had a brother Georg. Klara was born on November 13, 1904, in Linnich/Duhren to Bertha Schwarz Meyer. The Berg family had lived in the area since the 1600s. Josef and his brother worked with their father in his cattle business. Inge had a younger sister, Gisela (Jill) Renate, who was born on May 1, 1933. The Bergs were a closeknit Orthodox Jewish family. In ge's fam,ioly lived with her paternal grandparents. Max was the president of the local synagogue and her uncle George was the cantor.
The Nazi dictatorship gained power in 1933, and anti-Jewish restrictions became increasingly harsh. Jews were barred from many professions and the family had to have a non-Jew run their business. One of Inge’s uncles began to transfer large sums of money to Dutch banks. Inge began public school in 1935, but about six months later, the government decreed that Jews could no longer attend. Inge was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Linnich, an hour away, where there was a Jewish school. About a year later, the aunt and uncle who also lived there left for the Netherlands. Her grandmother went to live with another daughter and Inge returned home. She then commuted about an hour a day to attend school in Cologne. Inge often skipped her after school lessons and walked around town. She saw many stores with signs saying Jews not wanted. Jews could only shop at limited times and there were always long lines. The adults were careful to not talk about their problems in front of the children, but Inge remembers always being afraid. In early November 1938, neighbors warned the family of a planned pogrom. The first day of Kristallnacht, November 9, they stayed in the house, even though they saw that the synagogue was on fire. Inge and her family then went into hiding in Cologne with several other relatives. A few days later, Inge’s father Josef, his brother George, and cousin Ernest fled to Holland to escape arrest, but were jailed there for illegal entry. Josef had a brother-in-law, Herman Meyer, in Holland, who was told by the police that the men would be deported back to Germany the next day. Herman contacted Maurice Silversmit, a leader in the Jewish community in Rotterdam. He told Herman to confront the police and tell them that written permission from The Hague was needed to return them to Germany. This gave him time to hire an attorney and request asylum for the three men. Asylum was granted, but they were placed in a detention center. Inge’s mother Klara and other Jews were told they had to clean up the damage from Kristallnacht. She went to Lechenich where their homes had been vandalized and their belongings destroyed. Carpets were thrown on manure piles and prayer books smeared with eggs and dung. She was helped by many villagers, who later brought them food in Cologne.
The family looked for a country that they could enter legally. Rosel (Marx) Berg, the wife of Karl, Josef’s cousin, had a relative in England. She called him daily seeking assistance. This relative had a younger brother, Herman Strauss, who worked for a law firm in Kenya, which was a British colony. He obtained Kenyan visas and Herman Strauss paid the 50 pounds per person required for entry papers. Josef, George, and Ernest were released in May 1939 on the condition that they leave for Kenya. Josef and George arrived in Kenya around July. They were interned in Camp Roever, then went to Nairobi where Josef rented a house. Ernest and Else Geisel married in Maurice’s home before leaving Holland for Genoa, Italy, where they met more than a dozen family members who had left Germany: Inge, Gisela, and their mother Klara, Sara Meyer Berg, wife of Joseph and Inge’s mother’s sister, Rosel Marx Berg and her eighteen month old son Egon, Max and Clara Davids Berg, Inge’s paternal grandparents, and Berta Schwarz Meyer, her maternal grandmother. They left aboard the SS Usambara and arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, in late summer 1939. Karl and Josef Berg arrived from Germany in August.
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II. The German government did not recognize Jews as citizens, so they were stateless. The British colonial government in Kenya considered them enemy aliens. All adult male foreigners, including her father and his brothers were arrested. They were released a week later with the condition that they work on the farms of British citizens conscripted for war service. They could leave their homes only with the permission of a police commissioner. In late 1939, the Bergs purchased a 375-acre ranch in Limuru and 125 acres in Maguga. They raised thoroughbred cattle and pyrethrum, a flowering plant used to make insecticide. Inge’s home had no electricity or indoor plumbing, although they soon had running water. Her paternal grandparents, maternal grandmother, and one uncle lived with them; the other three uncles and their families lived in the other house on the ranch. The family held their own religious services on the farm, since they could not drive to Nairobi on Sabbath. Karl and Josef brought the Sefer Torah when they left on the last boat out of Hamburg. Other members of the local Jewish community attended. At first, they tried to have tutors at the farm for Inge and Gisela, who did not know English. But soon the sisters were enrolled in the Limuru Girls School for three months. Inge, who had been in 4-5th grade, was placed in 1st grade, but she learned quickly, and in a few months was back to her previous grade level. They transferred to a British boarding school in Nairobi. Gisela changed her name to Jill because of anti-German and anti-immigrant feelings. Inge and Jill boarded with three to four other families for five years to keep kosher. In order to earn money for school fees, their mother ran a vacation boarding house that was popular with British Jewish soldiers on leave.
After Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Herman Meyer, Adolf and Erna Meyer Baum and their daughter Hannah, who had left Germany in 1937, fled to Kenya with one suitcase. With the birth of Philip John Berg to Ernest and Else in 1942, there were now seventeen family members in exile. For a while, they could send packages and correspond with relatives still in Europe. But by summer, that stopped. Inge’s grandmother Clara Berg had three siblings, Max, Valentin, and Moritz, who, with their wives, Betty, Hedwig, and Ida, were last heard from in July 1942 when Max wrote to say they were all now deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. Inge’s maternal grandmother Berta died ca. 1942 of lung cancer. Her paternal grandfather Max, 82, also died that year. Her paternal grandmother Clara died in 1945. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Nairobi. Around this time, Inge’s parents rented a house in Nairobi to be with the girls.
Many relatives from all sides of the family perished during the war. Clara Berg had nearly 100 cousins, but no survivors were found. The family decided to leave Kenya as soon as the war ended in May 1945. With the assistance of cousins John and Joseph Schwarz, in the US since 1939, they left Kenya on cargo boats and arrived in Boston in March 1947. Inge got a job and lived with relatives in Brooklyn. Her family settled in Vineland, New Jersey, and began a chicken farm and dairy business. In September 1951, Inge married Werner Katzenstein, who left Germany with his parents in 1937 for Holland and then in 1939, for the US. He served in the US Army in Europe during the war. They had three children and settled in New Jersey. In 1957, Jill married Kurt Pauly, who with his parents, Hugo and Selma Herz Pauly, left Germany for Palestine in 1936, and then went to the US in 1938. The couple had two children. Klara Berg, 96, died in 2000.
Werner Katzenstein was born on April 29, 1922, in Wallensen, Germany. In 1933, the Nazi dictatorship took control of Germany. All the male Jews in the county where they lived, including Werner’s father, were jailed. His father was released after 8-10 days. Werner had to leave school. The government enacted legislation to strip Jews of their rights. In 1935, Werner’s father was no longer allowed to buy grain and was forced to close his farming supply business. Aided by a relative, his father acquired property in the Netherlands and the family moved there in 1937. His father continued to seek a more secure haven for his family. In June 1939, they left for the United States. They settled in Somerville, New Jersey and developed a farm business.
Werner was considered an enemy alien, but was permitted to register for the draft. He was inducted into the US army in March 1944. After basic training, he was trained for intelligence and reconnaissance work and assigned to the 100th Infantry Division. He deployed to Europe, entering combat in southern France and the Vosges Mountains. Werner was wounded in battle in November, but rejoined his platoon in January 1945. The unit advanced into Germany and captured Heidelberg. The war ended with Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945. Werner then worked for the military government. He traveled to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia to visit family who had been imprisoned there. Werner returned to New Jersey on April 30, 1946. He married Inge Berg, who had fled Germany after Kristallnacht with her extended family and lived in Kenya for the duration of the war. The couple had three children and settled in Washington, D.C. Werner, 93, passed away November 4, 2015.
