Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

64

RolfLevy und Christina Ceballos-Levy

Werner Bloom (Schmieheim
resident), Nohra, Rolf, Guillermo,
and Oscar Levy, in front ofthe
former home of Rolfs parents in
Schmieheim, June 2003

down from the forest, gushed into the streets with great force, and rose sev-
eral feet into a neighbor's house. The owner of the house, who was a non-
Jew, was trapped in it, along with her young children and their family dog.
She yelled for help, and my father was the only one who responded. De-
spite the strong current, my father jumped into the water and navigated his
way to the house. He rescued the owner of the home, her children, and
even the family dog. After my father's rescue of our neighbor and her family
, our other neighbors began to protect him against the Nazi party raids.

I do not have any other memories of my life in Germany from this mo-
ment until the last day I lived in Schmieheim, which was in August of
1938. My parents did not teil me what was happening that day, but I knew
that something very sad was about to take place. My parents and grandpar-
ents were crying unconsolably, as they were saying good-bye to each other.
I now know it was because they suspected they never would see each other
again.

In August of 1938, I was seven years old, Helmuth was six, and Lothar
was three. My parents took the three of us from Schmieheim and boarded a
train headed out of a nearby city to Le Havre, France. On August 25, 1938,