Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
January 2022
Four-page questionnaire from August 16, 1946 (reproduction)
Historical context
The month of January, named after Janus, the two-faced Roman deity of beginnings and endings, traditionally represents a new beginning for many people.
The end of the Second World War marks a global new beginning. Over eight million people, who were forcibly taken away by the National Socialists, are now homeless. They are referred to as Displaced Persons, meaning they have been relocated, displaced, and expelled in the truest sense. Most of them face nothingness; their families and friends have been murdered. The horrors of National Socialism have cost the lives of millions and have serious and diverse consequences worldwide.
On January 27, 1945, the National Socialist concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet troops. Since 2005, this day has been commemorated worldwide for the victims of nationalist crimes. Furthermore, this day symbolizes the responsibility to clarify the causes, consequences, and dynamics of the crimes – for a new beginning of a global community that is resistant to ideologies of hate.
Short biography
Samuel Weiss departs from the European continent on the American ‘SS Marine Tiger’ from Bremerhaven on December 14, 1947, and arrives in his new home, New York City, on December 25. He is one of the survivors of the atrocities of National Socialism. He is born in the small Czech town of Velky Sevlush on November 27, 1929. Samuel Weiss’s family is Jewish. At just fourteen years old, Samuel Weiss is forcibly taken to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau along with six younger siblings and his mother. Almost his entire family is murdered here. Samuel Weiss is deported to four other concentration camps between 1944 and 1945 before being liberated in Zittau. Only one brother survives, having escaped with false papers during the war.
In America, Samuel Weiss begins a new life. Here he finds not only his aunt, who sponsors him, and his brother but also the love of his life: Margarita. Margarita and Samuel meet in Mexico City and marry three weeks later. Together, they move in with Samuel’s brother in Los Angeles. The two of them start a business and are business partners. Their children Vivian and Leonard Weiss complete the family. Samuel Weiss passes away on June 17, 2013, surrounded by his family.
Significance of the object
More than 500,000 people who are displaced after World War II leave Europe from Bremerhaven on former troop transport ships. One of them is Samuel Weiss. He turns his back on his former home and only returns to the departure port in 2008 with his wife. Samuel Weiss’s story is a report on the crimes of the National Socialists and the story of a new beginning. Both are reflected in the questionnaire Samuel Weiss fills out before his departure from Germany.
The German Emigration Center commemorates together with you the victims of the terror of the National Socialists.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de