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Archival description
GB 1556 WL 643 · Collection · 1935-1949

Correspondence of Heinz Werner Löwenstein, documenting his experiences as a German Jew who emigrated to South Africa in 1935, and the experiences of his parents who remained in Berlin, and who disappeared after having been transported to Riga, Jan 1942. 643/1-4 consists of correspondence between Heinz Werner Löwenstein and his parents, 1935-1940. The letters provide an interesting account of the difficulties encountered by a young immigrant trying to make his way in South Africa as well as of the life led by Jewish people in pre-war Berlin. The letters make hardly any reference to the political situation and the real hardships and dangers of the parents' lives are hidden. 643/5 comprises correspondence from Heinz Werner Löwenstein while he was a sergeant in the South African Army to his friends, Hans and Milly Hirsch, 1941-1943. There is an uninterrupted flow of letters describing life in the army in North Africa until June 1942. In October, the correspondence resumes with a post card from an Italian POW camp. This is followed by more frequent letters after his repatriation in April 1943. The letters not only give a very vivid picture of life in the army and in the POW camp, they are also testimony to the close friendship between Löwenstein and Hans Hirsch, who had known each other in Germany since before their emigration.

Löwenstein , Heinz Werner , fl 1935-1943 , German-Jewish emigrant in South Africa