Oral History Interview with Inge Karo

Inge Karo, née Heiman, was born in 1926 in Essen, Germany. Her father was part owner of a business. Her parents were active in the Jewish community and belonged to a conservative synagogue. Inge belonged to a non-Zionist youth organization and was educated in a school for Jewish children until the schools were closed by the Nazis. The effects of the Nüremberg laws, passed in 1935, are briefly de¬scribed. The Jewish community of Essen and the Heiman family experienced the destruction of Kristall¬nacht in 1938. Nazis threatened to burn down her family’s house and then confiscated it. Inge was affected by the pervasive Nazi propaganda, the persecution, and her family’s attempts to escape from Germany to the United States. The family emigrated to the United States in December 1939. Inge briefly talks about life in the United States as a refugee, including her experiences in public school.

Date: 10/10/1984
Interviewer: Janice Booker
Interviewee: Inge Karo
Language: English
Subject: Americanization.
Holocaust survivors--United States.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives.
Jewish refugees--United States.
Jewish youth--Germany--Societies and clubs.
Jews, German--United States.
Jews--Germany--Essen.
Jews--Legal status, laws, etc.--Germany.
Jews--Persecutions--Germany.
Kristallnacht, 1938.
Nazi propaganda--Germany.
World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--Germany.
World War, 1939-1945--German Americans.
Women--Personal narratives.
Essen (Germany)
Germany--Social conditions--1933-1945.
United States--Emigration and immigration.
Karo, Inge, 1926-
Location: Essen, Germany
USA
Permalink: https://hoha.digitalcollections.gratzcollege.edu/item/oral-history-interview-with-inge-karo/
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