Making Things Right

friday, january 14, 2022

In 1933, Dr. Peter van der Walde was born to Ludwig and Edith van der Walde, in Essen, Germany. Just 6 years later, after witnessing the warning signs of antisemitism, and experiencing Krystallnacht, the van der Walde’s escaped Nazi persecution on January 11, 1939, by immigrating to Holland, and later arriving to New York, USA.

By 1947, Peter’s father re-entered law, as an Immigrant Society Attorney, and later, sued Germany for reparations, enlisting his son’s help. Dr. Peter van der Walde, a Harvard graduate, became a clinical psychiatrist, and assisted his father, providing research/data by interviewing 55 Holocaust survivors, which Peter considers one of his greatest contributions. A Holocaust survivor, interviewing Holocaust survivors, about the severe trauma they experienced.