"As I Recall"

Albert Erlebacher was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, on February 27, 1935, to Julius (b. May 2, 1888) and Irma (née Stammhalter, b. August 26, 1902). He had an older brother, Gunther, born June 25, 1923. In 1938, two years after Albert was born, Gunther emigrated to the United States at age 14. The family, who lived near Karlsruhe in Bretten, Germany, was very religious and kept kosher. Irma ran a fabric business while Julius, who served in World War I, owned a cattle business. Julius was arrested on Kristallnacht and imprisoned in Dachau, but later released. On October 25, 1940, the Erlebachers were deported to the Gurs internment camp, and in March 1941, were moved to Rivesaltes. While in the camp, Irma worked with the OSE, assisting with medical and social programs. In the summer of 1942, with the assistance of the American Friends Service Committee, Albert was able to leave the camp and was placed in the Villa Mariana OSE home. The OSE planned to send him as part of the USCOM transportxs to the United States, but when the ships were barred from leaving Marseilles, he was taken to a children's home in Creuse, Chateau de Chabannes. In 1943, Albert and some of the other children were taken by train to a town near the Swiss border and crossed the frontier on foot by following the train tracks. Once in Switzerland, he was sent to the Kinderheim Wartheim children's home and attended public school. Soon after the war, Albert learned that his parents had applied for and received immigration visas to the United States, but the visas had arrived at the end of August 1942, two weeks after the couple had been deported to their deaths in Auschwitz. Albert, living with a foster family in Davos, reunited with Gunther, who was in Europe as part of the American occuping forces. Albert emigrated to the United States in 1946 and lived in Chicago with the family of Irma's first cousin, the Hahns. He became a citizen in 1954, attended Northwestern University, and completed his PhD in 1961. Albert married Adrienne Herzberg in 1956; the couple had two daughters.The couple later divorced, and Albert married Arlene Cernik in 1968. He spent his career on the faculty of the psychology department at Northwestern. Albert Erlebacher passed away on June 13, 2009.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Arlene Erlebacher

Arlene Erlebacher donated a copy of her late husband's memoir to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2105. The donation was made as part of the OSE collection efforts.