Philip Hellreich and Miriam Hellreich

[00:03] MIRIAM HELLREICH: My name is Miriam Hellreich Today's date is July 1, 2022. I am speaking to you from Kailua, Hawaii. My conversation partner today is my husband, doctor Philip Hellreich And that will be. That's the group that we'll be talking to you today.

[00:33] PHILIP HELLREICH: I am doctor Philip Hellreich Today is July 1, 2022. We're at our home in Kailua, Hawaii, and my moderator, my conversation partner, my wife, Miriam Hellreich And looking forward and appreciate this conversation.

[00:56] MIRIAM HELLREICH: Okay, first of all, I have a question for Phil. Phil, your family's story of their escape from the Nazis has been on your mind and your heart for many decades. And we've talked about it many times, and it's been a very difficult conversation to have. Is there any particular reason why you want to reveal the details of your story at this point in time?

[01:24] PHILIP HELLREICH: Well, there are two main reasons. One is I want to make sure my daughter, my granddaughter, and hopefully great grandchildren will know why and how my family came to the United States from Europe. The second is that I want to do everything I can to make sure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. There are Holocaust deniers in this country and all over the world. I think it's important that people survive the Holocaust, tell their stories so the memory of the Holocaust remains so that this will never, ever happen again.

[02:07] MIRIAM HELLREICH: Tell me about your parents and where they lived and how they met.

[02:13] PHILIP HELLREICH: Well, under ordinary circumstances, one would think that my parents never would have met. They came from opposite side of the tracks. My father was a. Came from a very poor, very religious, orthodox jewish family living in a basement apartment. My mother came from a very wealthy viennese family. Her father owned a movie production company, Lux Films, and also owned the largest movie theater in Vienna. In fact, he was instrumental in the careers of both Otto Preminger and Melina Dietrich. So the way they met was that my father was a surgical resident, and one of my mother's cousins needed surgery. My father was a surgeon and met my mother at the hospital. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here to be answering these questions. Now. Shortly before her death, I actually called Marlene Dietrich and had a conversation with her. And she shared with me lots of stories about my maternal grandfather.

[03:20] MIRIAM HELLREICH: What happened to your mother and father's side of the family when Hitler invaded Austria March 12, 1938?

[03:30] PHILIP HELLREICH: Well, interestingly, everybody on my father's side of the family was able to escape the Nazis. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles all escaped. However, on my mother's side of the family, except for my mother, her brother, her father, and her mother. Everybody else was killed by the Nazis in the concentration camps. So today I'm actually going to describe a series of eight rather miraculous events that occurred without them. I would not be here today to tell this story. So on March 12, 1938, my father was performing surgery at a catholic hospital in Vienna. While doing surgery, heard people shouting outdoors, yelling, screaming, making antisemitic remarks in the streets. And he asked one of the nurses what was happening, and the nurse replied, in German, their uncle is dah. In German, which means uncle has arrived, which was her way of saying that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had invaded Austria. Now, after the surgery was over, fearing for his life, my father returned home, going through back alleys and side streets for fear that one of those demonstrators, one of those members of the mob might know who he was, realize he was jewish, and attack him and injure him, or even worse. Now, miraculous event number one is that each night, the Nazis would round up Jews of different professions, and they incorporate the viennese police department to help round up the Jews, go into their apartments and homes, steal their valuables, and often arrest them. So my father and mother slept in a different house every night. On one particular evening, they were hiding at my uncle's house, my father's brother, when there was a knock on the door and a viennese police unit entered the apartment to round up the Jews who were present that night. They were looking for jewelers. And my uncle Herman, the owner of the apartment where they were staying, was a jeweler. Now, fortunately, some would say miraculously, the viennese police captain in charge of this unit was a friend of my mother's family and ordered his men to let my family go. Advised my mother to contact all the jewish jewelers that she knew, that this was the night that jewish jewelers were going to be arrested or rounded up. And since my paternal grandfather was a jeweler, they want him. And he was able to escape that roundup that night. And just as importantly, the police captain asked my mother about the status of her father and her brother, and she told them that both her father and her brother had been arrested or were in Buchenwald confidential concentration camp. And he told her that if she could acquire visas for her brother and father, he would get them out of Buchenwald. He then advised my mother to go to the chinese embassy to acquire visas to Shanghai. And later on, I'll tell you the importance of the, of the chinese consulate general in Vienna and how he's helped so many jews escape. But my mother complied and was able to get a visa for her father. But they did not have a visa for her brother. So therefore, my mother went to the british embassy in Vienna and persuaded one of the embassy personnel to stamp her brother's passport with a visa to Canada. Now, that was not valid. It was not legal. The British could not do that. But with that, he was able to get to London and from there to Canada. Now, miraculous event number two. Remember the next morning, after my father's surgery, after he ran through back alleys and streets to escape the mobs, he arrived at the hospital and noticed that all his friends, all his colleagues that he'd worked with for years, were now wearing swastika lapels, were all members of the nazi party. And their excuse to my father was that they could not retain their current positions without joining the nazi party. You can imagine the shock, disappointment, and disillusionment my father must have felt when he saw that with all his friends and colleagues. But my father approached one of his friends and colleagues, a doctor stuttermeyer. It told him that he needed to get his family and himself out of Vienna. And doctor Stoudemeyer agreed and wrote a letter falsely stating that my father had tuberculosis and had to recuperate in southern Italy. In addition. I don't know how, but he somehow arranged for my father's passport to be issued without the required JDev that all Jews had to have on their passports at that time in Germany. So my father arrived in Italy. He took his passport, my mother's passport, and his parents passports to the british embassy in Rome, and asked somebody at the embassy to stamp all those passports with a visa to Canada. The official told my father the stamp was no longer valid. Canada was an independent country. He couldn't do that. But my father pleaded with him to do that, because a lot, his lives and the lives of his family were at stake. And so this employee stamped all the passports with those visa. The official, an official, complied with that request. Now, miraculous event number three. Number three. My father mailed the passports from my mother and my paternal grandparents back to Vienna, and it somehow evaded the nazi censorship of the mail. They censored all the mail, but especially the mail of jewish residents of Vienna and Germany and Austria. So with those invalid passports, they were allowed to travel to Zurich and were granted a three day stay in Switzerland before exiting to Canada. If they did not exit Canada within three days, they would be forced to return back to Vienna. But God knows what their fate would have been. So my grandmother pretended to be sick for several weeks until finally the Swiss sent a doctor, the swiss doctor in, who examined her and pronounced her fit to travel, and they were ordered to leave Switzerland within 24 hours. So, in desperation, my parents were sitting on a park bench in Zurich discussing their plight and wondering what happened to them once they returned to Vienna. Remarkably, and some would say miraculously, there was an american couple from Connecticut who just happened to be well connected to Roosevelt administration, who just happened to be sitting on a bench nearby, who just happened to speak fluent German and who happened to overhear my parents conversation. The couple introduced themselves and offered to sponsor my parents and grandparents to immigrate to America, took them immediately to the american embassy, where they were granted visas to go to the United States with the Vissers. They were allowed to stay in Switzerland indefinitely. So once a jew in Switzerland had the right to go somewhere, the Swiss let them stay as long as they wanted. My parents, who were German speaking, thought seriously considered about staying in Zurich, which was a german speaking city, and actually remained in Switzerland for about one year. However, one day they visited the swiss german border and then looked across the border and saw SS troops across the border on the german side and decided perhaps the best idea for their safety was to go to the United States. Now, my grandparents chose to remain in Switzerland for some time. They eventually emigrated to the United States, but I'm not exactly sure how and when that happened. Now, miraculous event number four. While in Zurich by parents, were able to book passage on a french freighter which was destined to the United States. But they were late in arriving at the Portland, they missed the sailing of that freighter. They subsequently learned that that freighter on that voyage hadn't been blown up by a german U boat and sunk. So had they caught that freighter, they would have perished, and I wouldn't be here to tell you this story. Miraculous event number five. My parents immediately began the process of booking passage on the famous french ship, the Ile de France. Now, at that time, the French were extremely anti german, and 15% of the French were fishy. French were also extremely anti semitic, and so they didn't want to really help my family. But my mother spoke fluent French, was quite attractive, flirted with a travel agent, and was able to acquire tickets for she and my father on the Ile de France soon after they boarded the ship. And you have to remember, my father and I both get seasick in the bathtub. So my father was on the. On the deck. He probably didn't know whether he was in port or was sailing. Jeff. But just as the. As my parents boarded the ship, Germany invaded Poland, and the french government announced that the Ile de France would not be permitted to sail because the French might need the ship as a troop carrier. Fortunately for my family, there were many american students stranded studying in France who needed to get home. And the american government intervened, interceded with the french government to get the French to allow the Ile de France to sail to help those american students. And that was the last voyage of the Ile de France before the end of the Second World War. Now, miraculous event six is something that makes me feel emotional every time I tell it. My mother told a story of a first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty arising out of the mist as she entered New York harbor, and told me that for the first time in her life, she truly felt safe. Sorry. I. Now, miraculous event number seven. My parents landed in New York. They spoke no English, they had no money. So my mother worked as a manicurist to support the family. There was also a jewish refugee agency at the time that also helped support my family to be able to pay the rent, buy food, etcetera. Now, my father immersed himself in English. He listened to the radio, he read english newspapers, and spent 12 hours a day in the public radio, in the public library. Now, recall, in order to be licensed in the United States, he had to pass the New York State board medical exam. In those days, there were no multiple choice questions. All the questions were essay questions in English. And I find it remarkable that after one year, after having no prior knowledge of English, he was able to pass that exam and become licensed to practice medicine in the state of New York. Now, unfortunately, even though my father had completed a surgical residency in the University of Vienna, which at that time was one of the premier medical schools in the world, because of depression here in the United States, and for other reasons, they would not recognize his years of residency. So my father had to go into family practice. Now, after the attack on Pearl harbor, my father tried to enlist as a foot soldier to fight the Nazis. But because he had a nazi passport, without the jdehen, the us military would not accept him. So instead, he volunteered as a civilian to treat military personnel, and it won award an award for doing that. Now, ironically, years later, in the 1950s, he was drafted into the korean war and got his uniform. And fortunately for him, he did not have to give up his practice because just as he got his back, as his uniform was about to be shipped out, the armistice was signed, and he was decommissioned. It isn't ironic when he vowed to fight as a foot soldier, to fight the Nazis. He was not accepted, but yet, years later, he was drafted to fight the korean war.

[18:24] MIRIAM HELLREICH: So tell us about your mother's side of the family.

[18:29] PHILIP HELLREICH: Yeah, I don't want to neglect the outcome of the story on my mother's side of the family. I remember my grandfather, Richard Copeland, was a movie producer. It was called Lux Films. He owned the largest movie theater in Vienna. And he had the dubious distinction of being one of the top five people whom the Nazis wanted to capture in Vienna. So the Nazis came to my parents apartment, held a gun to my father's head, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his father in law, Richard Koppelman. My father was compelled to comply, and his father in law, my paternal grandfather, Rachel Koppelman, was arrested. Now, my grandfather was very assimilated. Didn't really expect anything bad to happen. But prior to the nazi invasion, my grandfather had sent all of his money out of the country, just in case. So the Nazis, after arresting him, beat my grandfather with metal rods for hours, which were designed to inflict the most severe pain without doing any internal damage, all the while demanding that his wealthy returned to the Nazis. When he refused, he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was tortured. He was kept alive, however, because the Nazis wanted his money. Now, during this time, if you recall that the viennese police captain who entered the apartment my mother and father were staying advised my mother that if she could get a visa from my grandfather to go to Shanghai, he would get them out of the concentration camp so they could exit to Shanghai. This he was able to do. So my grandfather went to Vienna. We have to thank the humanitarian chinese consul, General Feng Shan Ho, who was granting Jews exit visas to Shanghai. This man's kindness was said to be responsible for 20,000 Jews who were able to relocate to Shanghai prior to the extermination period. Now, it's important for everybody to understand that until 1941, it was the era of expulsion. Any jew who could get a visa to go to any other country would be allowed to leave. To the shame of the entire world, including our country. Only a small number of such visas were granted. If more visas had been granted, millions of lives could have been saved. In 1941, there was a Wannsee conference in Germany where the german government met. And that's when the era of extermination began, where Jews were not allowed to leave and were sent to concentration camps to be exterminated. Now, when my grandfather got to Shanghai, he wasted no time in assimilating into Shanghai. He determined that the city was in need of soap and detergents. So he reportedly established a successful business to fulfill that need. In addition, he resumed his previous career. As a successful film producer. Now, here in Kailua, Hawaii, I was a member of the local Rotary club. And a member of that club was a man named Bob Kinney. Who was an american diplomat. Stationed at the american consulate in Shanghai. And one day asked him whether he knew of my grandfather, Richard Koppelman. He immediately said, oh, yes, the movie producer. So apparently he was well known in Shanghai as well. Now, my grandfather's name, Richard Koppelman, is engraved on the wall of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum in Hankow district in Shanghai. And I hope one day to be able to go there and see that inscription. Now, it has to be understood that anti semitism flourished in Austria. In Austria was the Austrian Hungarian Empire. In which the german speaking members struggled against the Poles, the Hungarians, the Czechs, the Slovaks. For dominance within the austrian hungarian empire. And the german students were taught ultra nationalism in those schools. In fact, Adolf Hitler himself was austrian. So as an example, my father in medical school in those days issued, flunked one question on one part of an examined. At the end of the year, you were forced to repeat the whole year. So at the end of one year, this professor asked this impossibly difficult neuroanatomy question. Which had not been covered during the course of the year. My father was unable to answer that question. He flunked. He was flunked and had to repeat that entire year. Several months later, that professor went up to my father, apologized to him, saying the only reason he did that to him, because he was jewish. Now, anti semitism is a worldwide problem. Still is even here in the United States, but to a lesser degree here. I remember now when I was a college. When I applied to college, I applied to Hamilton College in upstate New York. And it's not true now, but. But in those days, they had an unwritten quota. 70% Protestant, 20% Catholic, 10% Jewish. And in my high school was predominantly jewish. And I was the first applicant to be accepted in 50 years to Hamilton College because of that quota system. Now, that's not there anymore. That's been done away with. But we have to remember that it was not that long ago that these kinds of things existed in our country as well. And I have to say, unfortunately, asian students. Asian Americans are now facing similar quota systems. When they apply for university and college. And I think it's a disgrace. And that needs to end now. There's an interesting footnote to history that many people may not realize. But Adolf Hitler fashioned himself a painter and an artist, and therefore he applied one day to be a member of the Viennese Academy of Arts. Unfortunately, his interviewer happened to be jewish and refused to accept his application. One wonders if he had been accepted to the Academy of Art, had followed a very unsuccessful career as an artist. Perhaps the course of world history might have been a bit different. Just an interesting footnote.

[26:03] MIRIAM HELLREICH: What was, Phil? What was unique about Germany that allowed the holocaust to occur when it never occurred anywhere else in Europe or in fascist Italy?

[26:14] PHILIP HELLREICH: Remember, anti semitism was rife throughout Europe for centuries. There were pogroms in Russia and Poland, but only in Germany did a government decide that it was going to exterminate every man, woman, and child of the jewish community. Now, Franco's fascist Spain was neutral, but somewhat of an ally of Hitler's. Mussolini's fascist Italy was definitely an ally of Hitler's, but they did not do that to their own Jews. And, in fact, both of them gave refuge to any jew that was able to escape the Nazis and land in their countries. And there's something unique about the german education system in the gymnasium, which is their high school system that's taught about german superiority, german ultra nationalism. And if you want to understand that, I would recommend two books that all Americans should read. One is the rise and fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. The other is Budden Brooks, written by Thomas Mann, the german author. And Buddenbrooks describes exactly what was taught in the german gymnasiums in those days, which makes you understand why this can arise in Germany and didn't arise anywhere else. Now, Thomas Mann was one of the very few german intellectuals who left Germany to protest Hitler and the Nazis. And Marlene Dietrich was one of the few entertainers who left Germany to also protest the rise of Nazism. Now, I appreciate the opportunity to share my family story with you today. I appreciate the fact that my family was able to come to America. But you have to understand, America is a microcosm of the world. We have proven that people of all races, religions, ethnicities, and national origins, for the most part, can live in peace, in harmony and tolerance. And we have to keep all work to keep that dream alive, because given our constitution, our declaration of independence, and our history, if that model fails here, then mankind may be doomed. Every American who loves freedom must make sure that we remain an open, free, and tolerant society where all people have an equal opportunity to succeed. Thanks again. I very much appreciate this opportunity to be able to tell my family story.