Jenny Kraus

By the turn of the century, I met a very handsome, industrious, and kind man named Samuel “Semi” Kraus. We fell deeply in love and were married in 1903. Semi was a successful cattle dealer just like my father, Jacob. My husband’s family were very well-respected citizens in the community. Semi’s brother, my brother-in-law, Carl Kraus (1858-1940), was a businessman, distinguished city councilman, and leader of the small yet vibrant Jewish community in Lichtenfels.

In 1904, our first son, Justin, was born. Three years later in 1907, our second son, Wilhelm or “Willy” as we lovingly called him, completed our family. We lived a happy and comfortable life. I ran the household. I especially loved to cook for my family and spoiled Semi and the boys with delicious kuchen (sweet and savory pastries), schnitzel, rouladen, spätzle, and sauerbraten. I was also good with numbers and managed our family finances.

As our boys matured, Justin followed in his father’s footsteps and became a businessman, later starting his own company in 1934 called “Kraus and Co.” which exported porcelain, hardware, and children’s toys. Willy had a keen intellect and excelled in school, graduating from primary and secondary schools with very high grades. He went to Berlin to study law and pursue his dream of becoming an attorney. We were extremely proud of our boys and their accomplishments! They were on their way to a happy and fulfilled life.

By the early 1930’s, the world economy was extremely fragile due to the 1929 Great Depression, whose economic impact was felt in Germany and Lichtenfels. At the same time, Nazism was on the rise in Germany and an Austrian-born German named Adolf Hitler rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer in 1934.

By 1935, the Nuremberg Race Laws were enacted which directly and negatively impact our lives, the Jewish community of Lichtenfels, and every Jew throughout Germany. These laws were twofold: the Law for Protection of German Blood and German Honor, which forbade marriages between Jews and Germans and the Reich Citizenship Law, which declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be citizens. The Nuremberg Race Laws systematically stripped all Jews of their citizenship and rights. We were forbidden to hold jobs that could go to Germans. As early as 1933, before the Nuremberg Race Laws were even enacted, Jews were already feeling marginalized and oppressed. During this time, Jews were slowly being stripped of their rights and dignity. Educational and employment opportunities became difficult.  An April 7, 1933 law denied non-Aryan members of the Bar the right to practice law.  Our darling Willy, who was in Berlin at this time pursuing his dream of becoming an attorney and working as a court trainee, was dismissed.  He reluctantly moved back home to live with us.  It was an incredibly demoralizing time in his life. He spent many months searching for a job, but was discriminated against because he was Jewish. He was unable to find work, even in Lichtenfels. Both our boys felt isolated, oppressed, and dehumanized.

Justin and Willy went looking for work – any kind of work – every day, but found that there were very few to opportunities left for them in Lichtenfels. Their futures looked bleak, and they were losing hope of living a successful and productive life in Germany. Reluctantly, yet with our complete support, Willy made the difficult decision to leave us, his beloved Lichtenfels, and Germany.  Although he would have preferred going to the United States, with the assistance of non-Jewish friend Christian Zentner, who secured a ticket departing from Hamburg, he emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a better and freer life. It was 1934.

Willy wrote this heart wrenching entry in his travel diary shortly after setting sail for Argentina:

In September 1938, my beloved Semi passed away. I was devastated and completely alone. . Just a few short months later, on November 9-10, during what was later called Kristallnacht, our town was overrun by Nazi rioters who attacked the Jewish community. It was shocking to see the synagogue, Jewish businesses (including ours), and our homes ransacked by a feral, marauding crowd bent on destroying all that we owned. My brother-in-law, Carl Kraus, was chased by Nazi rioters across the market square in Lichtenfels - in his underwear.  There was glass everywhere as storefronts of Jewish businesses were destroyed. Glass littered the streets and main square where most of the businesses were located.  

I knew in that moment that I had to flee Lichtenfels to save my life. The Jewish community was under attack and our rights were being systematically dismantled by the Nazi regime. It was an excruciating decision to leave all I knew (and owned) behind. Everything Semi and I had worked for our entire lives was destroyed. Our home, all our possessions, and business had been confiscated by the Nazis. I knew if I didn’t try to leave immediately, I might be sent to a concentration camp where I heard that many of my Jewish neighbors were being imprisoned. 

By April 1939, with emigration papers secured, I embarked on a journey to travel halfway around the world on the ship SS Cap Arcona to reunite with my sons in Argentina, a country whose language and culture were foreign to me. It was a terribly unsettled time in my life not knowing what my future looked like. All I knew was that I was no longer able to be arrested, stripped of my rights, dignity and possibly my life, just because I was Jewish.

I stepped foot on Argentinian soil on April 20, 1939, and reunited with my beloved sons. We were together and safe from the destructive power of the Nazi regime.

Willy, who now went by the name of Guillermo, and Justin (or Justino) had established themselves in Buenos Aires in the years since arriving and became successful businessmen. I couldn’t have been prouder of them, and I knew that Semi would have been equally proud of his boys. They had built a successful, happy, and stable life in their new home country. I would live the rest of my days with Guillermo free from the brutal, oppressive, totalitarian Nazi regime. I consider myself and my boys extremely lucky; 6 million Jews (including many of my dear Lichtenfels friends and neighbors) were exterminated during the Holocaust, a genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime to eradicate Jews. I will never, ever forget them.

Postscript:

Jenny Sara Kraus died in February 1955 at the age of 76.

In the early 1980’s, Guillermo visited Lichtenfels with his daughter, Jenny’s granddaughter, Betina Kraus. It was important for Guillermo to show his daughter where her grandparents, Jenny and Semi, and her uncle Justin lived and worked before being forced out of their beloved Lichtenfels. Guillermo died in 1999 at the age of 92.

In November 2018, to coincide with the 80^th commemoration of the November pogrom, Betina traveled to Lichtenfels to reclaim her grandmother’s driver’s license which had been confiscated by the Nazis shortly after Kristallnacht.

Jenny Kraus’ license was one of the thirteen licenses discovered in 2017 while the town was digitizing town records and became a part of the “13 Jewish Drivers’ Licenses” research project by the students at Meranier Gymnasium.

Betina met the District Administrator of Lichtenfels, Christian Meissner, Mayor Andreas Hügerich, Town Archivist Christin Wittenbauer, Upper Franconia Curator Prof. Dr. Gunter Dippold, the students and their history teacher, and Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht who lead this extraordinary and important remembrance research project.

She traveled back to Lichtenfels one year later to “bear witness” as Stolpersteine were installed in memory of Jenny Kraus.