During the mass arrests of Jews in the summer of 1938, we wrote our sons and nephews in the United States to receive the appropriate affidavits to ensure our emigration.... One could have assumed that the German authorities, interested in the emigration of the hated Jews, would not stand in our way and would enable us to arrange for our departure. But soon enough we and those who shared our fate found out that the situation was entirely different. New decrees were issued daily. One had to prepare endless paperwork, visit many offices. The growing pressure of emigrants filled these offices and caused hours and days of waiting in line. In addition, there was the rude and hostile attitude of officials.... Simply procuring application forms for passports or identity cards necessitated a long and nerve wrecking process of standing in line, pushing and waiting. The police office was supposed to open at 9 a.m., but at 6 a.m. there was already a long line outside, in snow and storm, and one would get to the head of the line at 11. Uncivil, even inhumanely rude officials turned the wait into torture. They would suddenly close the doors arbitrarily, push everyone back and tell them to leave and come back the next day. The next day there would be a sign: 'Today the office is closed to Jews'. The offices for emigration counselling, the tax and finance authorities, the foreign currency and customs offices (through which every emigrant had to pass) were just as bad. After several futile visits to these offices, when each official directs you to another, only the sixth visit produced results…. We had to furnish numerous forms, lists, certificates and other documents in which we had to provide information regarding former generations in the family. All this required extensive correspondence and the overcoming of enormous difficulties.... Finally, our gold and silver and all remaining valuables were robbed. We could take nothing except two pieces of our silver cutlery. The rest was all weighed, and the value was estimated according to weight. But we received nothing in return. The returns were put in a closed bank account.... We were supposed to receive the visa at the American Consulate in Stuttgart. During our many visits, we could not even buy a drink in the city any longer, even at the railway station. Everywhere there were the threatening signs: 'No Entry for Jews', 'Jews are not served here'. We spent the last night before receiving the visa in one of the few hotels that still admitted Jews. But even there, a printed card requested that we eat our meals in the room and not to use the restaurant. We had to pay a very high price for this special room service.... We left on 23.3.39. My wife, aged 63 and I, aged 68 left the country we had loved so much, in which we and our fathers were born. On March 30 we first entered what was to become our new homeland.
