"Minsk - Im lager der deutschen Juden"

Karl Loewenstein (1887-1976) was born to Jewish parents in Siegen, Germany, and in 1917 he married Margot Hamburger, who also came from a Jewish family. In 1919, however, he converted to Christianity as a Lutheran. After having served as a naval officer during World War I, he worked as a director of a bank in Berlin, named Busse and Co. He was active in a Lutheran parish in Berlin-Weissensee, and in the 1930s, was one of the founders of a Confessing Church congregation that split from that parish. Due to his involvement in the Confessing Church, as well as his Jewish background, he was arrested in November 1941 and deported to the Minsk Ghetto. In May 1942 he was transferred to Theresienstadt, where he was appointed by the camp commandant to supervise the security services in the ghetto, including the fire brigade. He survived the war and following liberation, he moved to Great Britain, where one son lived, and then to Australia, where another son (Fred Lowen) lived, before returning to Berlin, where he lived the remainder of his days.

Leo Baeck Institute

Cite Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime

This text forms part of Karl Loewenstein's memoir, which was published in successive issues of Die Mahnung (Nos. 1 to12, 01 Jan to 15 June 1957). The periodical was published by the Bund der Verfolgten des Nazi regimes (Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime) in Berlin, Germany. The donor obtained a partial copy of his father's article from unidentified sources. Mr. Lowen, subsequently, obtained a complete version of the published memoir and sent in photocopies of the entire article to USHMMA in Sept. 1992. In addition, this article forms a prequel to "Aus der Hölle Minsk in das 'Paradies' Theresienstadt," also by Mr. Loewenstein, a copy of which was previously donated to the USHMMA by the donor's cousin, Hella Bailin. Original typescript version of this text is held by the Leo Baeck Institute, New York.