Tucker


 * Overview Of Fritz Ottenheimer's Life**

My Holocaust study was on Fritz Ottenheimer. Fritz was born in a Jewish family. He was a lucky person and escaped Germany with his family before the really bad things happened such as gas chambers and concentration camps. In America, Fritz's dad got a job and both of them went to a school to learn the U.S language a little better. Fritz worked hard and got into one of the best high schools. He also was in honor classes. When Fritz got older, he joined the army and wished to fight in the war against Germany. He trained and was mad because no one would let him fight, and he was ready to. Later on, Fritz was sent to Germany to guard food for the Jews being released from the concentration camps. Fritz also got to interview a guard from a concentration camp. The guard said that he had killed a few Jews, just by hitting them with a club. Later, Fritz went back to school at Carnegie-Mellon University, in Pittsburgh. There he received a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Fritz later on worked at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and taught others about his experience in the Holocaust. Fritz stills lives in the Pittsburgh area today, educating those around him about the Holocaust and the results of hatred and prejudice.

__Click on Fritz__//** [|CLICK HERE] Fritz liberated Jews; he was not liberated.
 * //__Click on the book__


 * __Life of Fritz Ottenheimer__**

Over 1.5 million children died during the Holocaust of World War II. Some died from diseases or starvation. Others died in concentration camps. Fritz Ottenheimer was one of the lucky ones to survive. Fritz Ottenheimer was born in Constance, Germany, in 1925. His parents were Klara and Ludwig. They owned a men’s wear store in Constance. They lived comfortably as believing, practicing Jews. In 1933, Fritz watched as Hitler rose to power.Fritz saw parades and heard speeches promoting Nazi beliefs. He also saw swastika flags hanging out of windows. The people of Constance, including his parents, thought others would not follow Hitler. However, the newspapers and radio stations were calling the Jews a “dirty, smelly, foreign race.” They also said that Jews were trying to destroy Germany. Even things at school began to change for Fritz. Textbooks were changed to include the teaching of Hitler’s propaganda. A race study class was added to teach German children about the pure Aryan race. Non-Jewish children were encouraged to join Hitler’s youth movement. A boycott of Jewish stores, including Fritz’s father’s store, was encouraged, but the boycott was not successful at first. During the 1930s the Nazi government issued more restrictions for the Jewish people. For example, Jews were not permitted to go to the movies, concerts, sporting events, swimming pools, hotels, and restaurants. All Jews who tried or did work for the government were fired. Even Jewish books were removed from libraries. Finally when Fritz’s family lost their store, they decided to leave Germany. In 1936, the Ottenheimer family tried to go to the United States, but they were rejected because they had trouble getting sponsorship. Eventually, Fritz’s family found relatives in the U.S. to sponsor them, but they would have to wait years to leave. While they were waiting, on November 1, 1936, vandals broke into the synagogue in Constance and burned Torah scrolls and prayer books. The synagogue was rebuilt in March 1938. Fritz had his Bar Mitzvah in the newly renovated temple. While the family continued to wait for their visas to allow them entrance into the U.S., they took in Jews who were fleeing persecution in Austria. Fritz’s father helped the refugees escape to neutral Switzerland, which was near the border of Constance. In all, Fritz’s parents helped two-hundred to three-hundred Austrian Jews escape to Switzerland. In 1938, Isle, Fritz’s sister was the first to receive her visa to the United States. A few months later, the rest of the family was told to report to the United States Embassy for their final interview before receiving their visas. When they got there, though, they found out that their application for visas had been turned down because of Mr. Ottenheimer’s injury during World War I. They now had to wait until new documents were processed. On November 10, 1938, Fritz was awakened by an explosion. The Nazis had blown up the synagogue in Constance. Also, all the Jewish men in Constance had all been arrested except for Fritz’s father. Later that afternoon, the Gestapo came for Mr. Ottenheimer, too. In late December, Fritz’s father returned home. He had lost weight and was sick. The family found out later, that Mr. Ottenheimer had been sent to the Dachau concentration camp. In April of 1939, the Ottenheimers received the news that their application to go to the United States had been approved. They packed and left shortly afterwards. Once in the United States, the Ottenheimers were detained at Ellis Island for seven days. Fritz’s uncle finally came and paid for their release. Fritz and his family rented an apartment in the Bronx section of New York City. Fritz was enrolled in school as a seventh grader, but he had difficulties with his studies. He also had difficulties making friends because he did not speak English. Fritz and his father then enrolled in classes to learn English. As Fritz’s English improved, so did his time in school. Fritz’s father found a job in New York. Then, Fritz’s grandmother arrived in America. About this time the United States entered World War II in 1941. Fritz felt he should do something to help the U.S. with their war efforts. He joined the Civil Defense as a manager. In June 1944, Fritz graduated high from school and registered for the draft. He also was accepted at City College in Manhattan. However, soon after being accepted, he was drafted. On October 5, 1994, Fritz reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for basic training. On March 19, 1945, Fritz was chosen as a member of an advance detail that was being sent to Germany. Once in Germany, Fritz’s unit crossed the Rhine River into Querfurt, Germany. Their job was to guard ammunition trains and food trains. The food was for the prisoners in the concentration camps. By now, the Allies had driven Hitler’s forces into surrendering, so Fritz’s unit was then sent to Camp Erla in Leipzig, Germany. This camp was a slave labor camp that had been set on fire when SS officials fled. Fritz saw piles of ashes that had been barracks. He also saw bodies lying along the fence. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and Hitler was dead. Fritz was assigned to military intelligence since he could speak German. He went to Flossenburg concentration camp to interview kapos. This was Fritz’s first view of a concentration camp. While there, he found out that the camp once held 26,000 prisoners, but 50 percent had died each year. The five thousand prisoners that were left had been forced to march to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Only 2,000 survived, and they were half-starved and sick. In the next few months, Fritz was sent to various towns to patrol, help citizens and prisoners, and interpret German. After the U.S. attacked Japan, Fritz and his unit were kept in Europe in order to liberate the various countries and restore their governments. While still in Europe, Fritz heard and saw for himself the horrors of the Nazi regime. The injustice of it all upset him greatly. Fritz also found out that his Aunt Martha, Uncle Leon, and Gigi had all died in a concentration camp. On December 3, 1945, Fritz became a part of the Third Military Governmental Regiment, Special Branch, headquartered in Bavaria. His job was to “denazify” the German government. While in Bavaria, Fritz met Jewish survivors of the concentration camp. He learned about many more horrors, such as the extracting of gold teeth from the bodies that had died in the gas chambers. Fritz’s military career ended on September 10, 1946, when he retuned to New York and to City College. Soon, he became depressed in New York and did not like big city life. In the spring of 1948, Fritz started school at the School of Industrial Engineering at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He graduated in August 1949. From there, Fritz took a number of jobs and ended up as an engineer at the Blawnox Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, he married his wife Goldie in 1952. Their daughter Marcie was born in September 1954. In 1957, Fritz took a job at Westinghouse, and his son Danny was born. Fritz attended night school at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he received a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1963. On January 1, 1987, Fritz retired from Westinghouse. In his retirement, he has audited classes, played with his grandchildren, volunteered at the Rehabilitation Institute’s day school, and worked at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. From 1990-1994, Fritz was coordinator of the Holocaust speakers bureau. Fritz still speaks to many groups in the Pittsburgh area. Fritz wrote the book __“Escape and Return”: Memories of Nazi Germany__ during his summer months of retirement. He presented the book to people of his hometown of Constance on January 26, the opening day of the Holocaust commemoration day in Germany. Fritz still lives in the Pittsburgh area today, educating those around him about the Holocaust and the results of hatred and prejudice.

Citing

Levin, Steve. “Holocaust Survivor Turned American Adds Role of Memoirist.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday Feb. 2000. Print.

Ottenheimer, Fritz. __Escape and Return.__ Kearney Morris Publishing, 2000.