I Wore the Yellow Star
Non-Fiction, History, Biographies / Memoirs
Many members of the older generation remember how the Nazis determined the course of their childhood without having understood it at the time. What did the sons and daughters of Jewish parents go through?
Inge Deutschkron grew up in Berlin and personally experienced the consequences of being a Jewish child. At first, it meant that she was not allowed to play with children of her age, that she was excluded from sports activities, and that she had to change schools several times and move to different quarters of the town. The fear of arrest increased, and it soon became clear to the familiy that a methodical elimination of the Jews was taking place, one that would only end with their extinction. Emigration was precluded by the outbreak of the war. From September 1941 on, Jews had to wear a yellow star, and the first deportation of 35,000 Berlin Jews was carried out. Fear turned to desperation as the unthinkable became the inevitable.
A life of illegitimacy and false identity began for Inge Deutschkron and her mother, a life that brought danger to all who helped them. After years of suffering under the excrutiating fear of discovery, they survived the bureaucratic sadism of the National Socialist system, two of only 1200 Jews in Berlin who escaped the Final Solution.
Inge Deutschkron was born in 1922 near Cottbus and became a journalist after the war. She stayed in England, India, Burma, Nepal, Indonesia and Israel. Since 1955, she has been a journalist in Germany and, since 1958, worked as a correspondent for the Israel newspaper 'Maariv'. In 1966, she acquired the Israel nationality and was a member of the editorial staff of 'Maariv' until her retirement in 1987. She now lives in Berlin.
Inge Deutschkron received numerous awards, amongst them the Carl-von-Ossietzky Prize for Contemporary History and Politics in 2008, who stated her "life's work is the sign of the continuing commitment to democracy and human rights and against all forms of racism."
Many members of the older generation remember how the Nazis determined the course of their childhood without having understood it at the time. What did the sons and daughters of Jewish parents go through?
Inge Deutschkron grew up in Berlin and personally experienced the consequences of being a Jewish child. At first, it meant that she was not allowed to play with children of her age, that she was excluded from sports activities, and that she had to change schools several times and move to different quarters of the town. The fear of arrest increased, and it soon became clear to the familiy that a methodical elimination of the Jews was taking place, one that would only end with their extinction. Emigration was precluded by the outbreak of the war. From September 1941 on, Jews had to wear a yellow star, and the first deportation of 35,000 Berlin Jews was carried out. Fear turned to desperation as the unthinkable became the inevitable.
A life of illegitimacy and false identity began for Inge Deutschkron and her mother, a life that brought danger to all who helped them. After years of suffering under the excrutiating fear of discovery, they survived the bureaucratic sadism of the National Socialist system, two of only 1200 Jews in Berlin who escaped the Final Solution.