Congregation Ohav Sholom

Milton Kaufman - The Journey to France, Italy and America

Milton's parents decided to send him to his mother's sister - Aunt Frieda, where she, her husband and their two oldest children resided. They had escaped Germany well before Krystalnacht. It was January or February of 1939, when arrangements were made for Milton to live with his aunt and uncle in France. Milton remembers the journey well. His father accompanied nine-year old Milton by train to the German-French border. At the border, all the passengers were required to get off the train and be searched and questioned by customs agents and border guards. Milton's father had to wait outside the interrogation room because he was merely accompanying Milton and not actually crossing the border. After emptying all his belongings for inspection, Milt was slapped in the face and spat on and asked: "Where are you going Jew-boy?" Milton told the agents that he was going to meet his uncle in Strassbourg, France (which was just across the border), to live with his aunt and uncle.

It was only after the train to Strassbourg left the station that the customs agents let Milt go. They had succeeded in their sadistic desire to have Milt miss the train. Milt's father decided to send him in a taxi to cross the border to the railroad station in Strassbourg. At Kiehl, the German train station, Milt's father waited at public telephone for Milt's call advising him that he had met his uncle. Milt arrived at the Strassbourg train station and found the station virtually empty and proceeded to cry. Since his uncle did not see Milton on the pre-arranged train, he went down to the vehicular border crossing, hoping he would see his nephew coming across the border. Milt lamented his problem to a stranger in the station who telephoned down to the border and inquired if a man was there looking across to Germany awaiting the crossing of a little boy. He was then informed to return to the train station where his nephew was waiting for him.

Not knowing a word of French, Milton's aunt enrolled him in a public school, in Lyon, France. Milt learned to speak French quickly and was accepted by his fellow classmates, until the war started. Now instead of being a "dirty little Jew" he became the "dirty little German Jew."

Milt's mother had another sister, Thekla, a single woman living in America. Tante Thekla was employed as a domestic. She had to put up the required bond that was demanded by the U.S. government, to show proof that the Kaufman family would never become a ward of the state. The money for the bond was temporarily transferred to Thekla's account by her employer. In exchange for this favor of the money transfer, Tante Thekla signed a contract that obligated her to work with the same family for a number of years with only one half-Sunday off each week. As Milt states so simply: "You did what you had to." Another relative in South Dakota, who sponsored many Jews added additional funds that were required for the Kaufmans.

As war broke out between Germany and France, all communication between Milton and his parents came to an end. Aunt Thekla, who was in the United States would communicate separately with Milt and Milt's parents. The aunt served as a liaison between Milton and his parents.

Eventually Milt received his visa for entry to the United States. His aunt and uncle put Milton on a train by himself heading for Italy. From there, he was to sail to America. On the train in France, he was basically ignored. Once he crossed the border to Italy, he claims the Italians were beautiful. They inquired in a kind way as to where he was going. The border guards and customs agents gave him food and collected money in order to send a telegraph to the Red Cross in Genoa, requesting that they meet Milt at the train station in Genoa. The Italian border guards and customs agents waited for a reply and once received, Milt boarded the train bound for Genoa. They put Milt in a first class compartment and every 20 minutes someone else would come to give Milt food and drink. Milt was met at the Genoa train station by three men, evidently from the Red Cross. There Milt parted from his Italian friends. He was put up on the third floor of a small hotel. They told Milt to be ready at 10:00 the next morning for a physical examination. Of course Milt was ready by 8:00 A.M., but to no avail. It was a frightening experience when no one came that morning. He went to the lobby but could not find anyone who spoke French or German. He did what any normal ten year old child left alone would do in such a situation: he cried.

Later that afternoon, someone came and took Milton to the pier where the boat was docked. The pier was long with various lines to see a doctor, to have papers inspected and to undergo other similar procedures. Milton surveyed the people on the pier and went up to a man waiting on line and tugged at his sleeve. The man, thinking the boy was merely a local street urchin, brushed him aside and said in German: "What do you want? Go away!" Again, Milt tugged at his sleeve and again the man told him to scram. Milton said: "I'm your son." Milton, two-years separated from his parents, dressed in a French beret, was not recognized by his father. There was nary a dry eye on that Genoa pier witnessing the unlikely reunion, in February of 1941, while Hitler's noose was tightening quickly around Europe's neck.

Milton is quick to point out that it was not smooth sailing yet. Going to the ticket office to pick up his ticket, it turned out that the ticket booked for him was for a ship sailing from LeHavre France. Somehow they were able to exchange the ticket for a place on the ship sailing from Genoa and Milton set sail together with his parents. Milt says it was the last boat allowed to leave the port of Genoa before the Italians entered the war.

The trip on the boat was a dream. Milt's parents showed off their son's fluency in French to the other German Jewish refugees. The boat docked at 14th St. in lower Manhattan and the Kaufmans were met by their niece. They moved in with the niece at Fox St. in the Bronx and later moved to Intervale Ave. into a bedbug ridden furnished room next to a synagogue. Frequently, the Kaufmans would wake up to find a container of milk, bread or cheese on the windowsill, or on a Friday morning, chicken for a Shabbat meal. All this was delivered by Jews trying to help other Jews.

Tante Thekla also made arrangements and sponsored her sister Frieda and family to leave France and come to the U.S. via Spain. She saved Frieda's family as well.

During the Korean War, Milton was drafted into the U.S. army and ironically was stationed in Germany. While on furlough, he visited Laudenbach. He went to visit the cemetery where his sister (who died as an infant) and other relatives were buried. He also came with food, coffee and cigarettes for the remarkable Mrs. Gurgsheimer, who had risked her life and the life of her family when she smuggled food to his family. Also, after the war, she located the Kaufmans and forwarded a gold pocket watch which was Milton's grandfather's wedding gift. She had safely kept the Kaufman heirloom given to her the last time she visited Milton's grandmother, hours before she was transported to Teresienstadt.

While in the service in Germany, Milton served as an interpreter between the local Germans and the U.S. army. Milton never let on to the local Germans that he was Jewish. In this way, he had a small say in deciding who the U.S. army did business with in post-war Germany. For example, the army wanted Milton to negotiate an agreement with a local distributor of German beer. When Milton spent some time with a certain distributor, unbeknownst to her that Milton was Jewish, she told Milt that Hitler wasn't all bad and that the Jews got what they deserved. Milt promptly notified the woman that the army would not be doing business with her distributorship.

After completing his army service and returning to the U.S. Milt went to work for a textile company, while attending N.Y.U. at night. He married Lee in 1955 and together traveled by car selling a variety of imported items in Georgia and Florida. After being on the road 40-42 weeks of the year, Milt and Lee decided they wanted to be near their existing family before having children of their own. They have been blessed with three sons and now are the proud grandparents of one grandson and three granddaughters.

December, 2002

Michael Rosenbloom is a member of Congregation Ohav Sholom. He can be reached at spidermr@aol.com.

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