Interior view of the dining room of the Mediterranean School in Recco, Italy.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 99141

Date: 1933 - 1938
Locale: Recco, Italy
Photo Designation: JEWISH REFUGEES: SEARCH FOR SAFE HAVENS (1933-1945) -- Emigration/Refugee Assistance -- In Italy
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Nina Weil

Biography: Dr. Hans Weil was the son of Karl Weil and Emma Lehrberger Weil. He was born on September 8, 1898 in Saarbruchen, German. Hans Weil obtained his doctorate and became a professor at the University of Frankfurt. He and his wife Senta had a son Anselmo. In 1933, shortly before the birth of their daughter Constanza (named because of their constant hope for better times), Hans was fired by the University because he was Jewish. He decided to relocate his family to Recco, Italy. There, he established the Mediterranean School, a boarding school for German Jewish refugee children, ages 6-18, in Villa La Palma. The school combined educational freedom with strict rules to foster learning and provide the students with stability. In 1938, under pressure from Germany, Italy adopted harsh racial laws, which among other things prohibited Jews from teaching. Dr. Weil had to close his school, and he and his family fled again. Senta Weil and the two children immigrated to the United States on board the Vulcania, and Hans joined them the following year.

[Source: "The School of Freedom; "GENOVA Republic - August 25, 2010 page 9]
Keyword: DINING HALLS
INTERIORS
SCHOOLS/TEACHERS/CLASSES
VIEWS
Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Nina Weil
: Record last modified: 2010-12-22 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1172192

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