Our Escape from Essen to America

Friday, January 10, 2025 

Featured Guest: Holocaust survivor, Benjamin Raphael (refugee experience)

Holocaust survivor Klaus (as he was called at the time) Benjamin Raphael was born in Essen, Germany on July 20, 1929, to Else & Felix Raphael. Klaus came from an upper, middle-class family, and as Hitler & the Nazis consolidated their power, his parents witnessed many warning signs of antisemitism. This disrupted little Klaus’s idyllic childhood.

In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were enacted and many tears were shed when his “Aryan” nanny had to be let go. Klaus’s older brothers had to leave their studies and emigrate to the United States. His parents followed them for two extended visits, forcing a young Klaus to be placed in boarding schools.

He has early childhood memories of Kristallnacht and his father, who was briefly incarcerated on the eve before. He can recall the damage & destruction in Essen, especially to the synagogue, his school, the Jewish youth center, and many private homes. More than 2500 Jews in the city of Essen lost their lives during the years of 1933 to 1945. Fortunately, the Raphaels had made plans to emigrate to the United States and left Germany shortly after Kristallnacht for a brief stay in Holland. They then sailed on the German passenger ship Europa, arriving in New York in March 1939. Klaus was very unhappy that his new American friends could not pronounce his name properly and chose to be called by his middle name, Benjamin, when the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware about two years later, Please join us for this upcoming program, as Ben will recount his survival & refugee experience.