Ernest Chambré postcards

Ernest Chambre was born on November 4, 1909, in Belgium. In 1922, he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in Germany. In 1933, Ernest was a law student in Berlin when Hitler was appointed Chancellor. By that spring, anti-Jewish legislation was in effect. By summer, the Nazi dictatorship was well established and all Jews had lost their civil rights. Before taking the bar exam, Ernest fled Berlin for Belgium to escape the Nazi regime. In 1934-1935, Ernest arrived in Palestine. He contracted malaria and, while wandering the streets of Tel Aviv, met Ruth Edith Elsoffer. She took Ernest in and cared for him. Ruth was born on February 18, 1911, in Giesen, Germany. The couple had known each other in Germany and even dated. Ruth, a medical student, fled Germany for Paris and then, Palestine, where she worked as a maid. The couple married in 1937. Ernest left for Spain and was arrested. He was taken to the Miranda de Ebro internment camp for foreign prisoners. He was stateless and forced to return to Palestine. Ruth had a cousin in the United States and, in 1946, she emigrated to New York. Ernest arrived on October 29, 1947, on the SS Marine Jumper. He became a citizen on April 7, 1953. Ruth died on February 17, 2004, at the age of 92. Ernest died on June 20, 1996, at 86 years old. .

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Elly Berkovits Gross

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2021 by Elly Berkovits Gross.