Curt Egon Rosenberg

Curt was the oldest of three children born to a Jewish family in the famous German university city of Goettingen. His father owned a linen factory that had been in the family since it was founded by Curt's grandfather. Goettingen had a small Jewish population, with only one synagogue. Curt attended public school in the city.

1933-39: The Nazis came to power in 1933. A year later, the Rosenbergs' factory was seized and the family was forced to move to Hamburg. Because he was Jewish, Curt was arrested in late 1938 and sent to Sachsenhausen, at that time a camp mainly for "enemies of the state." Curt was beaten frequently and when he was released in February 1939, his leg was damaged. Ordered to emigrate within a month, Curt left for England.

1940-44: Curt went to a special camp in Kent for German-Jewish refugees. The Kitchener Camp was run by the Council for German Jewry and had been established in an unused British army base in the town of Richborough. It housed men between the ages of 18 and 35. Curt received agricultural training at Kitchener for several years before the camp was converted to a military base for a British voluntary unit. He then volunteered for the British army and fought with the Allies until the end of the war.

After the war, Curt settled in Britain. He learned that his parents and sister had perished in the Minsk ghetto in 1943.

 

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