Jews in Chile: the Hepner-Halberstam Family

The Hepner-Halberstam Family is composed of the married couple Heinrich Hepner and Kaethe Halberstam and their three children: Klaus, Ernesto, and Lore.They were a proudly German family, conscious of their Jewish heritage but not practicing the religion. The Hepner-Halberstams lived a harmonious and peaceful life in Berlin.

Heinrich Hepner was an important lawyer, the youngest one admitted to the Berlin Court of Appeal.

During World War I, he worked in the Ministry of Defense as a liaison officer between the International Red Cross and the front troops.

"Su ilusión de ser "ciudadanos alemanes", como todos los demás, se había desmoronado. Los hombres secuestrados, los templos quemados, las vitrinas destruídas ponían al desnudo la verdad: ellos habían dejado de ser alemanes. Ahora eran tan solo judíos" Escribiría la hija menor Lore en su libro "Respuestas a Albert".

Emigrating became the only option. Kaethe Halberstam actively sought visas for her family. The commitment to comply with the emigration into exile made possible the release of Heinrich. The trip was already planned. The destination was Cuba. The children went to Holland first, to wait for Heinrich's recovery there.

Parents and children met in Holland, said goodbye to their beloved Halberstam grandparents and left for Liverpool where they boarded the "Orduña" bound for Cuba. Once in Havana, they were not allowed to get off, their visas being no longer recognized.

Returning to Europe would mean their end, Heinrich said, so they had to find another destination. That was how they found themselves in Balboa, Panama, which offered to receive them temporarily while they were processing visas to another place.

Three weeks later, they received a telegram from the Chilean diplomat José Ramón Gutiérrez, whom they met in the "Orduña", which contained unconditional visas for the Hepner Family for their entry into Chile. This is how they embark a ship bound for Valparaíso; they were saved.

Unfortunately, the Halberstam grandparents were taken to the Westerbork concentration camp in June 1939, from where Adela Mamroth de Halberstam wrote to them, sharing the news that Wilhelm had died. Later they were able to reconstruct that Adela was assassinated along with her son Albert in 1944, when the war was closed to its end.

The family set up home in Santiago de Chile, where they managed to settle down performing various jobs. Today, their fourth generation is born in Chile and the Hepner-Halberstam are becoming history to make way for these new generations.