Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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my parents suddenly began to weaken, because that was too much for them.
As for being out of Germany, we just looked disappointed. 103
The Jeruchems did not face the same situation as other interviewees at the border
crossing. However, their anxiety was something of a different kind, as their level
of insecurity soared upon learning of the presence of the Gestapo, irrespective of
the Gestapo’s intentions. Hans Jensen noted:
The real situation hit us in Trieste. There we were put into a place where we
had to spend a night. I remember my father he was terribly, terribly
shaken to live in such conditions, where we had to sleep with huge numbers of
people. The interesting thing is that most of these people were definitely on
their way to Palestine at that time, some of them did go to Shanghai, but most
of them were going to Palestine. That elderly couple in our compartment, they
were going to Palestine. 104
All Jews felt both physical and psychological relief in knowing that they were no
longer in danger. However, the realisation that they had left lives, livelihoods and
relatives behind was encountered starkly at this point in time. Many found the
reality of their refugee status difficult to deal with, given their former lives in
Germany. The Jeruchem family arrived in Bombay on 24 February 1939. They
did not continue on to Shanghai, but remained in India. By 1947 the entire family
had emigrated to Australia. 105
Rabbi Dr Georg Wilde and his wife Martha emigrated to England on 27
March 1939. 106 Prior to his departure the rabbi had received a letter from the
board of the Synagogen-Gemeinde, 107 confirming that he had been on leave
abroad for the period 1 April 1939 until 31 December 1939. It further stated that
103
Jensen, op. cit., 14 June 1999.
104
Jensen, op. cit., 11 July 1999.
105
The various stages of the emigration of members of the Jeruchem family have been
discussed in Chapter Five.
106
Personal file on Rabbi Dr Georg and Mrs Martha Wilde, Bestand Pe, Signatur Nr.
50, ASGM, op. cit.
107
Correspondence to Rabbi Dr Wilde, 14 March 1939, Bestand 5B1, Signatur Nr. 66,
CJA, p. 340.