---

	Letzte Zeugen Überlebende Ermordete

Alle Berichte: 1 2  
Diese Geschichte wurde im Projekt "Die Letzten Zeugen" erstellt.

Eine außergewöhnliche, lehrreiche Geschichtsstunde

Im Mai 2008 besuchten die beiden Freunde Arthur Kern und Aaron Low die SchülerInnen des BORG Inssbruck und erzählten den Jugendlichen ihre Lebensgeschichten.

Am 7. Mai 2008 bot sich den Schülern der siebten Klassen sowie der 8M die außergewöhnliche Gelegenheit mit zwei Zeitzeugen des Holocaust zu sprechen. Arthur Kern und sein Freund Aaron Low waren aus Los Angeles, ihrem jetzigen Wohnort angereist, um ihre Erlebnisse, Eindrücke und Erfahrungen während des Dritten Reiches authentisch an österreichische Jugendliche weiterzugeben.

Arthur wohnte in Wien, Aaron in Berlin, d.h.  Aaron musste die bedrückenden und beschämenden Erniedrigungen schon ab 1933 erdulden, ähnlich erging es Arthur dann ab 1938. Dies reichte von der totalen sozialen Ausgrenzung bis hin zur geplanten Deportation in polnische Ghettos in den ersten Kriegsjahren. Ihren Eltern und älteren Geschwistern blieb dieses Schicksal nicht erspart. Von dort  wurden sie dann in  Vernichtungslager gebracht und damit verliert sich ihre Spur. 

Arthur und Aaron wurden in letzter Minute mit einem Kindertransport nach Frankreich geschickt, wo sie sich das erste Mal trafen. Als dann Hitlerdeutschland 1940 Frankreich besiegte, waren sie auch dort nicht mehr sicher, und durch viele glückliche Umstände und ebenso viele unerschrockene Helfer gelangten sie über Portugal in die USA, wo sie sich eine Existenz aufbauen mussten. Erst nach dem Krieg konnten sie Nachforschungen beginnen, um herauszufinden was mit ihren Angehörigen passiert war. Berührende und sehr bewegende Briefe und Dokumente tauchten auf und langsam wurde eine düstere Ahnung erschreckende Wirklichkeit  -  ihre Familien, soweit sie im Großdeutschen Reich bleiben mussten, leben nicht mehr. 

In der nachfolgenden Diskussion hatten die Schülerinnen und Schüler die Möglichkeit noch weiterführende Fragen zu stellen, die Arthur und Aaron gerne beantworteten. Abschließend möchte ich erwähnen, dass unsere beiden Gäste ohne Ressentiments oder Hass über ihre bösen Erfahrungen sprachen und sie dem heutigen Österreich, insbesondere der heutigen Jugend sehr offen und positiv gegenüberstehen. Daher möchte ich diesen Bericht mit dem Titel, in leicht abgewandelter Form, beenden:

EINE  AUßERGEWÖHNLICH  LEHRREICHE  GESCHICHTSSTUNDE

Für die vielen tief beeindruckten Lehrerinnen und Schülerinnen

Prof. Martin Bichler, BORG Innsbruck

Alle Berichte: 1 2  
Diese Geschichte wurde im Projekt "Die Letzten Zeugen" erstellt.

"Die Heimat zieht noch immer"

Arthur Kern about his impressions he had during his visit to Vienna and Innsbruck in May 2008.

It is difficult to describe the variety of wonderful and somewhat anxious feelings I encountered during my stay in Vienna and Innsbruck by the invitation from "A Letter To The Stars". Although I had visited Vienna several times in the past and had made contact and friends with the people who live in the apartment I once inhabited, the thought of visiting the city where I spent the first 10 years of my life (nine of which were very happy) was very exiting.
 
There were several varied things I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to meeting several Viennese families with whom I had become friends through "A Letter To The Stars". I was anxious to meet  for the first time Ernst Lindner, a non-Jewish Viennese man, who found me through "A Letter To The Stars", whom I last saw 69 years ago, when we both attended the 4th grade in the Volkschule in the D'Orsaygasse. I was looking forward to meeting a cousin who I did not know even existed until about 3 years ago. The family  had fled to Shanghai in 1939, while I had been sent to France with a Kindertransport. She also had been invited from Israel.

I was looking forward to meeting Gerda Hofreiter, a lady living in Innsbruck, who wrote her master's dissertation on the Kindertransport's from Austria, which I translated into English and I was somewhat apprehensively looking forward to address two schools in Innsbruck regarding my experiences during the National Socialist years.
 
Before I start to tell you about my experiences in Austria, I would like to say how much I appreciated the enthusiasm, friendliness and the horrendously long hours the whole staff of "A Letter To The Stars" worked to make this a successful program. The whole program was wonderfully organized.

During my stay in Vienna, my friends Fritz and Brigitte Kodras took us to the Wachau, Krems and Duernstein, a tour of  the Vienna I remembered from my childhood including the Naschmart, the Prater, Ringstrasse, Kaerntnerstrasse etc. We ate at the Palatschinkenhaus at the Naschmarkt and were invited to their apartment Vienna.

I met Ernst Lindner who remembered me from our 4th grade class and we walked the streets of my old neighborhood. We then visited the apartment I lived in, which now is inhabited by Lilly Maier, the student who invited me and her mother. It was a wonderful experience. Lilly's father treated us the following day an excellent lunch at the Corso restaurant opposite the Opera house.

I also wanted to see Fritz and Valery Bartos. Valery Bartos kept an envelope of documents my parents had entrusted to her just before they were deported and kept those documents for over 60 years. She also found me through "A Letter to the Stars". I had the pleasure of inviting all these friends to the restaurant "Napoleonwald". They have become my family in Austria and I maintain contact with all of them.

I was somewhat apprehensive about Innsbruck. I did not know anyone there and had no idea how I would be received at the two schools I was to talk at. Professor Martin Bichler met us at the train and made us feel very comfortable. He really went all out to show us around, introduced us to his family and treated us to lunch. That evening I spoke at an adult school. It was a large audience and we were very enthusiastically received. Dr Horst Schreiber led the discussion  made us feel like we belonged there. It was a wonderful experience. After talking to the students we were invited to dinner to a friend of Dr. Schreiber which was also attended by Gerda Hofreiter. It was an unforgettable event. We also talked to students at the Gymnasium where Professor Martin Bichler teaches. There must have been 150 young people in attendance. Many questions were asked in the subsequent question and answer period.

One of the most interesting questions was presented by a young man who asked: " Do you feel more like an American or more like an Austrian?" I answered very honestly that after living in the USA for the last 67 years I feel more American however "Die Heimat zieht noch immer"
 
Arthur O. Kern, geb. Oswald Kernberg