Hecht family collection

The collection documents the prewar, wartime, and postwar experiences of Arthur Hecht and his family, who primarily lived in Hörstein, Germany prior to WWII. Documents include birth and death certificates, a naturalization certificate, military discharge papers, a track award, and a 1946 clipping documenting Arthur’s reunification with his parents after their immigration to the United States. Original and copy print photographs include depictions of pre-war family life in Germany and life in the United States after immigrating, including Arthur’s time in the military. Arthur Hecht (1913-1999) was born on April 27, 1913 in Laudenbach, Germany to Adolf and Sessi Hecht. Adolf Hecht (1877-1953) was born on November 24, 1876 in Aschaffenburg, Germany to Mayer Hecht and Fany Süssek, and was a decorated and disabled WWI veteran. Sessi Hecht (née Rothschild, 1883-1965) was born on July 27, 1883 in Hörstein, Germany to Joseph Rothschild and Filipine Hamburger. Arthur had two sisters: Frieda (later Frieda Levy, 1909-1972) and Paula (later Paula Fernbach, 1911-2001). Arthur’s family moved to Hörstein, Germany when he was about 1 year old. His family was Orthodox, and Adolf owned a small business buying and selling soaps and cleaning supplies to hospitals and other institutions. Arthur was an accomplished athlete who excelled at soccer and long distance running. In August 1933, Arthur and a Jewish friend were the victims of an antisemitic attack, and severely beaten by a group of young men (some of whom he knew). He was still recovering a month later, but when the case came to court none of the perpetrators were among the group on trial. Both of Arthur’s sisters emigrated from Germany in the 1930s. Paula moved to Palestine in 1933. Frieda and her husband Hermann Levy lived in Mannheim, Germany and immigrated to the United States via Rotterdam aboard the SS Nieuw Amsterdam on July 14, 1938. Arthur wanted to emigrate from Germany as well but had a high quota number. Around 1937, the Nazis drove the Jews out of Hörstein, and Arthur’s parents went to Frankfurt am Main. Arthur lived in Würzburg, but he was visiting his parents in Frankfurt when Kristallnacht occurred. He was arrested and transported to Buchenwald where he was imprisoned from November 1938 to January 1939. Arthur was released after he signed an affidavit stating that he would leave Germany. After his release, a well-off uncle from Holland who went to London was able to obtain visas for Arthur and other relatives to immigrate to England. Arthur remained in England for a year until he was able to leave for the United States from Liverpool on the SS Britannic on March 22, 1940. Upon his arrival in New York, he lived with his sister Frieda and her husband. He worked in a bakery cleaning pots and pans, as well as at his cousin’s tape manufacturing business in Brooklyn. Arthur became a naturalized citizen on December 9, 1943. He was drafted into the United States Army and served in England, France, and Germany. He received a shrapnel wound in his neck from a German grenade and was hospitalized. Arthur was paralyzed, had several operations, and had to relearn how to speak. He returned to the U.S. on a hospital transport in November 1944 and was then in a convalescent hospital in Utica, New York. He was discharged from the army on December 5, 1945 and returned to his cousin’s tape manufacturing business. On 25 December 1945 Arthur married Ilse Bloch (1914-1968), who immigrated to the United States in July 1937 from Mainz, Germany. Arthur and Ilse had two sons, Stanley (b. 1950) and Allen (b. 1953). Ilse passed away after a long illness in 1968 and Arthur married his second wife, Margot Feldman (née Israel) in 1969. Arthur’s parents were deported to Theresienstadt on transport XII/3 on September 2, 1942 and survived the Holocaust. With the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Adolf and Sessi Hecht sailed from Bremen aboard the S.S. Marine Flasher on June 6, 1946. No restrictions on access