Maurice Scharfer

My name is Maurice Scharfer and I was born on December 20, 1920 in Danzig. My family was extremely orthodox. I am the second child of eight and we all survived. I lived in Danzig until my 11th birthday.

I went to a public school, but prior to that I was educated in the reading of the Jewish alphabet and the five books of Moses and the Talmud. I was very fortunate in being an outstanding student in the public school and was advanced to a higher learning school- St. Peter and St. Paul. However, as the Rabbi of the city sent his son on the Sabbath to school, my father could not persuade the principal of the school to give me the Sabbath off. He only considered that I come to school without carrying books but my presence was required. So I was sent to Berlin where my grandparents lived and went to a Jewish school there and to a Seder. I had an outstanding grandfather who was a decedent of a famous scholar. I have retained all of his teachings to this day.

My parents had aspiration to educate all of his children. My father insisted that I go to shul with him Friday and Saturday and that I observe my law and say my prayers. That influence has helped me survive and also taught me a lot. My teachers were very patient and inpatient but all were dedicated people that felt a calling to let me know who I was, that we are literally the chosen people. While we suffered we also learned to survive. I recall that my father could no longer be seen on the street to go to the temple. Some small shuls were close to us but it would be endangering his life to be outside and seen by the Nazi’s as he looked like the typical Jewish man. We had some of our prayers in our home.

When Hitler came to power, everything changed. On the way home from school, some Nzai’s beat me up and left me on the ground unconscious and broke my teeth. Some of my friends and neighbors on the same street (Grenareierstrasse) were murdered. Our home was in the Jewish section where you could not find a non-Jew.

The Nazi’s came to my home to look for Jews and weapons in June of 1933. We had books of learning but not guns or knives. It was just an excuse to invade a home. I was there when the Nazi’s came to our home. Fortunately, they searched my grandparent’s home and made a big mess and then reached for a scissors and cut half of my grandfather’s beard. They were about to stab him but at 12 years old I begged them to stab me instead of my grandfather. My uncle Lipschitz was also at the apartment and they cut his beard and stabbed his face. Then they left. We realized what to expect and left for Danzig that afternoon to be with my parents. Unfortunately, this did not last long as in a year Hitler’s power extended to Danzig as well. Since the economic situation in Danzig was poor, the population was given the satisfaction that Jews were not permitted to maintain their routine of life. The doctors could no longer take care of their patients, the lawyers could no longer be admitted to court and the Jews could no longer go to school. This was at the end of 1933 and it went on for months and months. Danzig was still free at the time but that was not respected at all. The German government laughed at us when we questioned the harassment. They said they were the rulers and we would do what we have to do.

Our grandparents left about a year after being with us in Danzig to go to Palestine. We felt comfortable to know they were secure and could have their physical freedom in Palestine. My father operated a hotel and restaurant that was famous all over Europe had to close everything. People no longer wanted to come to it because it was a Jewish hotel and restaurant.

We lived in hiding starting in 1934. We were forced to sell some of our properties to maintain our daily bread. We were fortunate in having an employee whose brother was an important Nazi and she would tip us off in hiding. We hid in a basement in the apartment building where my parents lived. We were safe where we were because no one had the key to the cellar part of the building. There was a time when the Nazi’s broke into our apartment and were at the door of my parent’s bedroom and they felt that they had come to the end and they left. We were very fortunate. The Nazi’s broke the store window as soon as we replaced it.

I had two baby siblings and my parents were very concerned about having food. This former employee who had worked for us- her name was Agnes and she provided the food for us. Agnes helped us survived and we in turn sent care packages to her during her last years of life in Berlin as there was no food for any price in Berlin and we were fortunate and grateful that we could help her after the war.

We had a lot of friends in Poland and my parents sent me to Warsaw and Krakow to visit friends. Since I was not in school, I went to visit our friends in these other towns. My parents felt that travel will give me some education and some inspiration that life may not be over. Conditions in Poland were subjected to the antisemitism of the Poles that they were known for. I was definitely recognized to be a Jew in Poland and was called names and chased by gangs of Nazi’s or even the boys I went to school with, but I always managed to survive. I was fortunate that I was an enthusiastic sportsman as I always was able to outrun them. I loved to ski and play soccer.

I realized that Palestine was the only place that had a future for us. I went to work for a carpenter for a year. Unfortunately, the carpenter found a way to get to Palestine himself and when he left, my parents had me work for their friends who had a printing shop. I learned to be a typesetter. I was in charge of providing the machinery with the necessary lead. I devised a system of cleaning the lead that would not dirty the system. This job lasted until 1938 when life in Danzig became an impossibility. In the meantime, my oldest sister went to America. Right after she left, we were able to sell a property, but the terms were that we had to get the funds in Poland. The man was a Polish subject and that was his only way to pay for the property. Since I was the oldest, I assumed the responsibility to go to Poland to get the funds. This was against the law at the time but whenever you traveled you had a bag with food and hot tea in a thermos bottle. The thermos bottle contained a double wall that became my hiding place for the money I collected for the property and eventually became the money that was available to my parents to emigrate to the United States later on.

I had an uncle in the United States who sent us affidavits of support to prove we would not become a public charge. I took these papers to the consulate and I was given visa number 65. This visa allowed me to leave October 1938 and I arrived in November. I stayed with my aunt and uncle in Brooklyn. I made use of my youth and became a runner for a furrier. This job became traveling, lunch and a few dollars to send back to my parents. I spent three years learning to speak English and working from 8:00 am until 6:00 and then taking subway to Brooklyn. I was grateful to be alive and be here and have an opportunity to work and learn the country.

After I left, my parents and the two youngest siblings traveled by train to Munich to Italy. In the changeover they needed to stay overnight in Munich. The station in Munich normally closed for all passengers. The stationmaster saw my parents and siblings and felt bad and let them stay overnight and helped them survive.

My goal was to bring the whole family back together. I saw to it that my father be given a certificate as a Rabbi. The education he had but never asked for the document. That certificate was sent to me in New York, where I took it to the various congregations specifically in Brooklyn. I found one in Coney Island, probably the poorest of all the congregations I visited, and these people decided to hire my father and save the six children that were still not safe. These people in Coney Island told me that their satisfaction is to save Jewish lives and we were fortunate to be their choice. My father and mother came here with the two youngest children. My father had a hard time adjusting to the United States.

Prior to that two of my younger sisters went to London on the Kinder-transport. The children in London were also given special visas to come to the United States as well. One of my sisters went to Palestine. My younger brother was studying in Poland near Vilna. My brother was 16 and had to escape and went into the forest and when there was no food he had to survive on chewing bark of the trees. Finally, he went on to Moscow and we were able to let him know via a counsel in Moscow (the same one who gave me my visa 65) and he gave the interview to my brother and told him that he could only see him on the Sabbath. My brother said he couldn’t do anything on the Sabbath because he is orthodox. The American counsel who was an anti-Semite was finally convinced to see my brother on another day. However, he demanded a fee. My brother finally was able to get a ten dollar bill and the Canadian dollar was worth more, but the Counsel said it had to be American money or I wouldn’t give you the visa. Somewhere from heaven a great bearded man handed him a ten dollar bill and left. My brother had never met the man before. But for this money to satisfy the counsel’s demand, he was given the visa. He went to Japan and arrived in the United States before my mother passed away. My mother passed away at the age of 65 and all 8 children were by her bedside in the United States.