[Cz-L] Again, a Czernowitzer - Berthold Storfer

Dear All,
Have been away a rather long time and back in Berlin I came across a
highly interesting article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung on 27 January, written by Arno Lustiger. Lustiger is a historian
(cousin of the late Cardinal Lustiger of Paris) and has written a book
entitled "Rettungswiderstand. Judenretter in Europa während der NS-Zeit"
- due to appear in May at Suhrkamp. It is about persons who during the
Nazi-era saved many Jewish lives. Below, just a short ....from a very
long article.
A certain_Berthold Storfer_ - born in Czernowitz (!) on 16.12..1880,
Jewish , but the only one of his family who converted. He lived in
Vienna and until 1938 was a banker and a wealthy and successful
businessman. Storfer had no contacts to the Jewish community. All the
same, he became a member of the Austrian-Jewish Delegation ordered by
the Nazi authorities to participate at the Evian conference on 6th July
1938. The other two delegates were Dr. Joseph Löwenherz, the president
of the Vienna Jewish community and Dr. Prof. Heinrich Neumann von
Hethars. Von Hethars, on behalf of the Nazi government, brought up the
offer to exchange Jews foreseen.for the concentration camps, against a
ransom of $250 per head. Unfortunately hardly any state reacted to this
offer. Therefore, the Nazis decided on mass emigration and taking away
all Jewish property, like various taxes, for exit, for passport, etc.
closing all bank accounts, certainly a better deal for them. This was
done with a great deal of enthusiasm. It is well-known what huge amounts
of money and what fortunes were left in the hands of the Nazis.
  After his return, Storfer, started to engage in Jewish matters,
established a committee for Jewish overseas transports and got more and
more involved with the subsequent activities. At that time, Eichmann
was in charge of the "Center for Jewish Emigration" in Vienna and in
1940 the SS ordered Storfer to take charge of Jewish emigration from
greater Germany ( all occupied territories). He organized successfully
naval transports to Palestine, most of them under the terribly difficult
conditions of the time. He did this with tremendous energy and
dedication. His brothers worked with him. During the next few years, he
saved 2,042 Austrian Jews and 7,054 persons from the other German
occupied regions. Some transports failed and lives were lost, as it is
well-known, ("Patria") , persons were interned by the British, etc.
When money became short Storfer paid the transports himself. Despite
his contacts all over Europe, he did not try to emigrate but later went
into hiding when he heard he would be deported. In 1944 he was caught
and taken to Auschwitz where he was killed in 1944.
Eichmann, at his trial, told of the meeting he had in 1944 with Storfer
when he visited Auschwitz. He said to Storfer that he was sorry for him,
that he had such bad luck but could not do anything to help...
Yad Vashem refuses to honour him as a righteous among peoples since they
only bestow this glory to non-Jews who have saved Jews. Although he had
converted, in Jerusalen he is still considered a Jew, according to the
Rabbinical laws. "Once a Jew, always a Jew".
In my opinion he played a somewhat ambigious role, but as a matter of
fact he saved more that 9,000 lives from perdition.
Some of you probably know the story, and there are certainly quite a few
survivors in Israel who remember.
There are a few entries on Storfer in google, some in English as well.
It is a fascinating story.
Gabriele

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Received on 2011-02-16 09:08:41