Biography
Julius Hermanns was a Jewish textile merchant in Moenchengladbach, Germany. He was arrested in September 1939, deported to Dachau and then transferred to Buchenwald. In mid-April 1939, having agreed to emigrate immediately, he was released. His brother-in-law in New York arranged the purchase of a Cuban landing certificate for him, and Julius booked passage on the St. Louis. He was unable to pay, however, for additional tickets for his wife, Grete, and teenage daughter, Hilde, so they remained in Germany. When the St. Louis was forced to return to Europe, Julius was given refuge in France, where he hoped his wife and daughter could join him. When France declared war on Germany, Julius was arrested as an enemy alien and later evacuated to the south of France. He was sent to Saint Cyprien, an internment camp near the Spanish border, where he was detained with some 50 other St. Louis passengers. After transfers to the Gurs and Les Milles internment camps, Julius was sent with 235 other prisoners to the Drancy transit camp in Paris on August 11, 1942. Three days later, he was deported to his death in Auschwitz. His wife, daughter, and other relatives were deported to the Riga ghetto on December 11, 1941, where they were probably killed.
