itsmeagain

The Leica is the pioneer 35mm camera. It is a German product - precise, minimalist, and utterly efficient.

Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm that, during the Nazi era, acted with uncommon grace, generosity and modesty. E. Leitz Inc., designer and manufacturer of Germany's most famous photographic product, saved its Jews.

And Ernst Leitz II, the steely-eyed Protestant patriarch who headed the closely held firm as the Holocaust loomed across Europe , acted in such a way as to earn the title, "the photography industry's Schindler."

As soon as Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their families out of the country. As Christians, Leitz
and his family were immune to Nazi Germany's Nuremberg laws, which restricted the movement of Jews and limited their professional activities.

To help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has become known among historians of the Holocaust as "the Leica Freedom Train," a covert means of allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of
Leitz employees being assigned overseas.

Employees, retailers, family members, even friends of family members were "assigned" to Leitz sales offices in France, Britain, Hong Kong and the United States, Leitz's activities intensified after the Kristallnacht of
November 1938, during which synagogues and Jewish shops were burned across
Germany.

Before long, German "employees" were disembarking from the ocean liner
Bremen at a New York pier and making their way to the Manhattan office of
Leitz Inc., where executives quickly found them jobs in the photographic
industry.

Each new arrival had around his or her neck the symbol of freedom - a new
Leica camera.

The refugees were paid a stipend until they could find work. Out of this
migration came designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers and
writers for the photographic press.

Keeping the story quiet The "Leica Freedom Train" was at its height in 1938
and early 1939, delivering groups of refugees to New York every few weeks.
Then, with the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany closed its
borders.

By that time, hundreds of endangered Jews had escaped to America, thanks to
the Leitzes' efforts. How did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with it?


Leitz, Inc. was an internationally recognized brand that reflected
credit on the newly resurgent Reich. The company produced cameras,
range-finders and other optical systems for the German military. Also, the
Nazi government desperately needed hard currency from abroad, and Leitz's
single biggest market for optical goods was the United States.

Even so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered for their good works.
A top executive, Alfred Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed
only after the payment of a large bribe.

Leitz's daughter, Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she
was caught at the border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland . She
eventually was freed but endured rough treatment in the course of
questioning. She also fell under suspicion when she attempted to improve the
living conditions of 700 to 800 Ukrainian slave laborers, all of them women,
who had been assigned to work in the plant
during the 1940s.

(After the war, Kuhn-Leitz received numerous honors for her humanitarian
efforts, among them the Officier d'honneur des Palms Academic from France in
1965 and the Aristide Briand Medal from the European Academy in the 1970s.)

Why has no one told this story until now? According to the late Norman
Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the Leitz family wanted no publicity
for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz family was
dead did the "Leica Freedom Train" finally come to light.

It is now the subject of a book, "The Greatest Invention of the Leitz
Family: The Leica Freedom Train," by Frank Dabba Smith, a California-born
Rabbi currently living in England.

Thank you for reading the above, and if you feel inclined as I did to pass
it along to others, please do so. It only takes a few minutes.

Memories of the righteous should live on.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The original book by Frank Dabba Smith was written in 2002 and is showing as "unavailable" on amazon.

The article you've posted (without attribution) was written in 2006. See it here. Two links on the page don't connect to anything. If this subject is of enough interest to you to want to share on UHH, perhaps research for more recent information and publications?

There is much online, such as this from 2014.

.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

My Brother in Laws Mother was a young Jewish woman living in Paris in the '30s. Her father was an iterant anarchist who could not afford to feed his daughter. She was sent to live in Switzerland, working at a school for young girls as essentially a cleaning girl/kitchen cut. When Germany attacked France, she was in Basil and spent the rest of the war in Switzerland. The school treated her like an indentured servant, working her long hours for no pay.

Monique was lucky; the rest of her family vanished into the Camps.

And, Linda, thank you so much for the link.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Great story. I learned about this from a friend who taught at the University Holocaust History.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

Thank you.

GPS Phil Loc: Dayton Ohio

Thank you for this information, much to be learned from History. This one is priceless!

Phil

rb61 Loc: Maple Grove, MN

Thank you for sharing this. People like this are needed in today's world.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Netflix just came out with a new documentary on Anne Frank & her diary. Helen Mirren is the host. My wife & I watched it last nite. Very moving.

the f/stops here Loc: New Mexico

Thank you. Wonderful story about people that we could use more of today.

jerseymike

Terrible time and when Hitler ended Stalin took over and Mao Zedong made them both look like choir boys. The upside for the bad treatment and no pay ....was her life.

cdayton

Very interesting - thanks for posting.

Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL

These stories of true bravery leave me in awe of the goodness of many people. They never seek reward or acclaim for their actions. History indeed is repeating itself, who will the unknown heroes be this time? Thanks to all for sharing.

OlinBost Loc: Marietta, Ga.

Thanks for the history lesson. I am sure that there are more stories like this one that have not been told.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Thank you....and HAPPY 4th to you.

Mainridge Loc: NW Mich, SW Fla

It is an appropriate day for this great story to be shared. I know that I am a beneficiary of the painful sacrifices made by those who came before me. It is a great reminder to live in gratitude for all our unmerited blessings.