Newspaper article about Klaus Zwilsky

THE FREEHOLD TRANSCRIPT, FREEHOLD, N. J., THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1950 Zwilsky Family Happy In New Land After Nazi Persecution “You can call a Senator a dope and get away with it, but if we said that in Germany we’d get life imprisonment. Freedom of speech – that’s what impresses me most about this wonderful country of yours.” These were the words of Klaus Zwilsky, 77 Throckmorton street, Freehold, a German Jew born and reared in Nazi Germany and who, with his parents, Erich and Ruth Zwilsky, managed to escape from Berlin and come to America following the war. Klaus, a dark, quiet lad with an engaging smile, has made a hit in Freehold, and Freehold – and America for that matter – have made a hit with him. Now a senior in Freehold high school, Klaus Zwilsky, who seems older than his years and who has seen and lived through horrors some of us Americans have only read about, is humble and overwhelmed at the way Americans have treated him and his family. Here is his story: Klaus was born in Berlin 17 years ago and lived there with his family until 1946. His father, a pharmacist, owned his own business. Life ran smoothly for the Zwilskys until Hitler came to power and World War II commenced. In 1941 the Nazis moved the Zwilsky family to a camp where hordes of other Jews were sent. They were on their way to one of the infamous death camps. But since Mr. Zwilsky was one of the few pharmacists left in the city he was released and ordered to go to work in a Jewish hospital. Klaus said that many of the Jews in the hospital were married to Christians and, therefore, were spared the cruel persecution which came to millions of their brothers. Hard Labor Here in the hospital Mr. Zwilsky worked. Ruth Zwilsky toiled from 12 to 14 hours a day a hard labor in the Siemens war factory. Klaus wasn’t able to go to school for three and a half years – no Jewish children were allowed to go to school for Jewish schools were closed at the outbreak of the war. With the help of his parents, Klaus, however, managed to teach himself a little of this and a little of that. “My father made me work in the offices and in the garden”, he said. “He didn’t want me loitering. Oh, he was so lucky to get that job. If he hadn’t we’d all be dead.” In 1945 Berlin was captured by the Russians. The British and American planes came over and dropped their bombs. Klaus said all the patients were brought to the cellar. Bomb after bomb dropped “but we were still lucky. We could feel the walls shake and the lights went out. One bomb fell only ten yards from me”, he said. “We later learned that we were to have been killed by the Nazis April 26, 1945, but on April 24th the Russians showed up and saved us.” After Berlin fell “we started building up the hospital again and my father became director”, Klaus went on. “I went back to school. But my parents didn’t want to stay in Germany. They had no future. They said there was no future for me. They hated the Nazis. And”, Klaus continued, “that included most Germans for the vast majority of the German people cheered and supported the Nazis. Even after the war they were still pro-Nazi. But we weren’t. I don’t know whether you’ll believe that or not.” Klaus’ mother’s two sisters and a brother, and Mr. Zwilsky’s three sisters were killed in the dread Dachau and Auschwitz camps. One Sister “My mother had one sister, Mrs. Irma Goldstein, living in Lakewood, N. J.”,Klaus went on with his story. “Through an American soldier we were able to communicate with her and she, in turn, made arrangements for us to come to America”, he said. “In 1946 we left Berlin. We were very lucky. We were the only Jews who were able to board a Swedish Red Cross bus transport – there were only 12 on the bus – for Sweden. This load was the only load of Germans ever taken out of Berlin. We had communicated with the Swedish Red Cross because we knew that that was where we were to get our American visa. There was no German quota at that time from Germany to the United States. But Sweden had one and we came in on the Swedish quota for Germans”, the youth went on- From Berlin the Zwilskys went to Hamburg, a German port on the North Sea; from there to Denmark and hence to Sweden, where they were kept in quarantine at Moelle, one of the finest Swedish sea resorts, for ten days. Klaus’ parents worked as pharmacists in Stockholm and Klaus took a job in a blouse factory, owned by his father’s cousin, in order to raise money to come to America. The Nazis had taken away all funds and valuables, he said. They were in the Swedish capital for six months and in January, 1947, they sailed to the States Cars, Cars, Cars “My first impression of your country”, the youth went on, “was cars, cars, cars and noise. My uncle and aunt met us in New York and en route to Lakewood we stopped at a tavern for dinner. We ordered beer but when the waiter saw me drinking it he snatched it out of my hand. I was very embarrassed because you see in Germany children drink beer. It is different here.” The day after Klaus arrived in Lakewood he entered Lakewood high school. “Everybody was swell to me”, he said. “From the beginning I was accepted by my classmates and teachers and they all tried to help me.” By June, Klaus had grasped enough English to get along and was pursuing American history, in which he is very much interested. “I felt so ignorant. I always wanted to learn about America but in Germany – well, you wouldn’t hear anything about America in Germany even if you wanted to.” While Klaus values his freedom to speak as he pleases, he is also grateful to be able to read what he likes, to listen to the radio, to go to school, to worship in his own manner. “And last but not least”, he said, “there is no segregation here. I am treated as an equal.” Like Freehold “My family and I like Freehold. All my teachers have tried to help me in every way possible and are always after me to correct my pronunciation and get my ‘th’s’ straight.” Last year Klaus was elected by his schoolmates to Boys’ State, sponsored annually by the American Legion. “I was thrilled at the honor” he said. He is also doing some reporting for The Transcript. He likes journalism. Klaus wants to go to the college next year but he doesn’t know where or what career he will pursue. At the moment he is happy to be here among “people who think the way we do.” Mr. Zwilsky, who did farm work for two years after coming to this country, is now employed as a pharmacist at the Marlboro State hospital. Mrs. Zwilsky has a job at Piccadilly Frocks on Throckmorton street. [I’m not sure that I would say all of these things today]