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Two teenage girls feed the chickens on the grounds of the Mediterranean School in Recco, Italy.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 99142
Two teenage girls feed the chickens on the grounds of the Mediterranean School in Recco, Italy.

Two teenage girls feed the chickens on the grounds of the Mediterranean School in Recco, Italy.

Date
Circa 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

About This Photograph

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]

Keywords and Subjects

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Nina Weil
 
Record last modified: 2018-09-04 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1172193