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The Package: A Tale of the Holocaust
In Nazi Germany, after he came to power, Adolf Hitler demanded that Germany be made free of Jews. This story concerns two Jewish women, Ellen Kaempfer and Betty Holstein, and a non-Jewish woman, Elfriede Mollenhauer who tried to help them.
Ellen Kaempfer’s Husband was advised to divorce her or be classed as a half-Jew and would suffer the same consequences as all German Jews.
Betty Holstein’s fiancé, a sailor in the German navy, was told, by the Gestapo, he should, for his own well-being, disassociate himself from Betty. This he refused to do and found himself sent to an officer training school and later posted to the battle-cruiser the Graf Spee.
More by chance than circumstance, Ellen and Betty met Elfriede Mollenhauer and they became friends. Although their relationship was short and fleeting, Elfriede tried in vain to secure safe passage out of Germany for them. For Ellen and Betty it became a hope for a better future, for Elfriede it was a chance to help a stranger who became her friend whom she feared she might never see again.
Ellen and Betty, after being sacked from their jobs, were ordered to wear the yellow Star of David on their outdoor clothing. Later they were told they were to be deported from Hamburg to a work camp in Poland.
One of the sisters, Ellen, left a package with Elfriede who promised to keep it safe until their return, which she did until the day she died, after which her son brought the package to the Jewish Museum in Berlin where it's contents are permanently on display.
On May 19, 1943, Germany was declared judenrein - clean of Jews.
It is believed that between 170,000 and 200,000 German Jews had been murdered by the Nazi regime under the auspices of the Gestapo together with the support of the soldiers of the SS and the German police force.
During this period (World War II) the Nazi persecution of the Jews culminated in the Holocaust in which approximately six million European Jews; men, women and children, were deported and brutally murdered.
Ellen Kaempfer’s Husband was advised to divorce her or be classed as a half-Jew and would suffer the same consequences as all German Jews.
Betty Holstein’s fiancé, a sailor in the German navy, was told, by the Gestapo, he should, for his own well-being, disassociate himself from Betty. This he refused to do and found himself sent to an officer training school and later posted to the battle-cruiser the Graf Spee.
More by chance than circumstance, Ellen and Betty met Elfriede Mollenhauer and they became friends. Although their relationship was short and fleeting, Elfriede tried in vain to secure safe passage out of Germany for them. For Ellen and Betty it became a hope for a better future, for Elfriede it was a chance to help a stranger who became her friend whom she feared she might never see again.
Ellen and Betty, after being sacked from their jobs, were ordered to wear the yellow Star of David on their outdoor clothing. Later they were told they were to be deported from Hamburg to a work camp in Poland.
One of the sisters, Ellen, left a package with Elfriede who promised to keep it safe until their return, which she did until the day she died, after which her son brought the package to the Jewish Museum in Berlin where it's contents are permanently on display.
On May 19, 1943, Germany was declared judenrein - clean of Jews.
It is believed that between 170,000 and 200,000 German Jews had been murdered by the Nazi regime under the auspices of the Gestapo together with the support of the soldiers of the SS and the German police force.
During this period (World War II) the Nazi persecution of the Jews culminated in the Holocaust in which approximately six million European Jews; men, women and children, were deported and brutally murdered.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 13, 2011
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August 9, 2014
Vivid reminder of the holocaust
Vivid reminder of the holocaust
after reading many holocaust stories I still find myself shocked at the total disregard shown for mankind by the Nazis. I feel everyone should be required to read books like this so that hopefully a tragedy like this never happens again.
Vivid reminder of the holocaust
after reading many holocaust stories I still find myself shocked at the total disregard shown for mankind by the Nazis. I feel everyone should be required to read books like this so that hopefully a tragedy like this never happens again.
Displaying 1 of 1 review