#HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

 
Part III:1916-1925

1917 – Yesterday I collapsed [and] fainted at work.  The doctor wants me to take off at least two days.  I have one day behind me already, but I know how urgently I am needed by my brave soldiers.

Mimi has given me two bedsheets.  So, now I have at least material for bandaging.  Mimi and Alfred are going to Berlin next week and will try to have me transferred to a hospital which is better organized.

1917 – They transferred me here to Berlin.  I work every day between eight and ten hours.  In this way I am recovering from the excessive strain. They employ me most often in the children’s clinic.  They know of my previous work.  If only this cruel war were at an end already!

1918 – On October 5^th I received news of my brother Paul being gravely wounded. He is in the military hospital in Bayreuth.  I requested an immediate leave of absence and soon arrived there.  He did not recognize me.  They had amputated both legs in the hope of saving his life in this way.

 He died on October 19^th and my work consisted mainly in transferring the body.  Paul was buried with all the honours of a brave soldier in Bocholt, in the Jewish cemetery.  12 R I R 53 Offiz. St. N.V.L.

1919 –The cruel war ended on November 11. 1918. May the people finally learn to settle their conflicts “in peace.”   Father could not bear the loss of his youngest son.  He died without suffering a lot.

1922- We have had peace for three years now, but the bellicose atmosphere persists.  People blame us, the Jews, for losing the World War.  Walter Rathenau, the man who worked energetically for the reduction of German war debts, was murdered.

1925 – I am here in Zürich, Switzerland, working as a nurse in the Jewish community. My duties are diverse, but satisfy me greatly.   Only at night do I still often think of the terrible time in Bottrop.

 #HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

 

 
Anna Andorn, nee Löwenstein, was born in Bocholt in 1885. During WWI she volunteered as a nurse. In 1930 she married the widower Meier Andorn, a prominent Jewish cantor and teacher. In 1942, the couple was deported to Teresienstadt, where Meier Andorn died. Anna was moved to Auschwitz in October 1944. She died before the camp inmates were liberated by the Allies in 1945.
Anna’s journal was made available by her nephew, Fritz Rohr, who lives in Paraguay. It constitutes an important historical source documenting the oppression, terror, and suffering of Jews under the Hitler regime.

Anna's diary, Part I 1897-1901

1897 -          “My name is Anna Löwenstein. I am 12 years old, born on July 14^th 1885 in Bocholt, and have decided to write this journal. But not as my friends do, who write down every little bit of rubbish.  At least once a year, I will make an entry in order to record what is most important about that particular period of time.

          Until 2 years ago I attended the Jewish School of Bocholt [where] I was taught by Mr. Spier, whose favourite expression was “Logical consequence”.  Now in the School of the Nuns they try to portray everything as a consequence of “God’s will”.  Studying is not as difficult for me as it is for most of my classmates.  It appears I have a somewhat better memory.
          The singing lessons give me particular joy.  The nun claims that I am the only who always strikes the right note. Also, I seem to have a nice voice. Then Mother Superior asked me to participate in the church-choir.  I immediately explained to her that I am Jewish.  Her answer: “But that doesn’t matter”.
          Initially I did not dare to talk about it at home, but one day my father told me that he had had a glass of beer with the pastor that day.  The pastor had smiled and waved at me the other day as I was coming down the stairs from the choir loft.
          So I feared that the minister might tell him about my participation in the choir and I preferred to talk about it myself.  However, father just laughed about it: “That’s alright, in my youth we used to decorate the synagogue with flowers from the pastor’s garden.  So, you go ahead and help to beautify the service.”
 
1901  -  I left the school at Easter. In fact, I am sad about that.  The nuns made a great effort on our behalf and I very much appreciate them.  And I believe they liked me well in turn.
  Now I help with the housekeeping, I enjoy that more than [helping in] the store.  We are 8 people, Paul, my youngest brother born on February 24^th, 1896 makes the most work for us.
WATCH FOR PART II: 1906-1915
 
Translated from the German by Susi Lessing. The original text is at https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10164662