Good evening and welcome. I am Suzanne Jaffe of the National Board of governors past president of ajc europe region. Am truly delighted that so many of you have come to headquarters this evening to help celebrate the launch of exit berlin, how one woman saved her family from not be germany and to hear directly from Charlotte Bonelli, the author and director of archives. I read the book cover to cover in one sitting and i can promise you that you are in for a real treat. Exit berlin is based on more than 300 letters luzie patch wrote behind in germany after she came by herself to new york in the team 38 about a week after kristallnacht and letter she wrote to her american cousin, arnold, who assisted in so many ways and the rest do. The letters are for unique in that into nazi germany and the holocaust of the perspective of one German Jewish woman and also how an average of air to jewish family responded to the holocaust to assist relatives whom they may or may not have known trapped in europe. Charlotte will provide her presentation and more details about the letters and the impact of the letters. I want to remind us of the nature smartphones, twitter and other rapid communication to knowledges that back in the 1930s when luzie set out to save her family, detailed correspondence was the main communication tool. I would like to book him a couple guests of the ideas. Stephen solomon and roger blade of the law firm hutton and solomon who represented luzie for many years. It was roger who called charlotte, are out there, to tell her about the letters. There is a direct convention. Luzie worked at ajc in this very building gene tells me on the second floor right below where we are now sitting. By chance she landed a job here on the four months after her arrival from germany and continue to work at ajc for the next 38 years until 1977. A few ajc staff including executive or david harris for them or luzie well. David will say a few words and i will lift the main heart of our program, hear it directly from charlotte. Therell be questions and answers after charlotte speaks. I want to point out cspan this year to film this exit berlin for its popular book tv program. We will let you know when its going to air in the next few weeks. Thank you. [applause] good evening and thank you for introducing the program. I am a lucky person. I had the privilege to know luzie sec mentioned. I joined ajc in 1979, but she never really retired. She kept coming back to the building on a regular basis. This is really her family in many ways. So i met her when i was a young staff member and i got to know her very well over the years. Of course i didnt know, what none of us knew the key not people like jane duvall with this treasure trove of letters in the story that albus now been revealed by my colleague, Charlotte Bonelli, is to assert the result is the book that brings us all together today. So for me, luzies story is a story of several things. It is a story for us about what of us can do if only we choose to do it. If one wants to think about heroes and and wants to set out and imagine what theyre like him are popular with suggest they have to be of a certain type. Dairy, egg and strong and brave and who knows what. Lucy had she been in this room would not have felt much physical space. So at first glance you might not have been the end to hear a or the. So in a sense, the experience is not something to read and absorb. And cry over, it occasionally smile over. Its also a challenge. Its a challenge to each and everyone of us to ask ourselves, are we capable of such action. Quiet, unheralded, unsung. Under difficult circumstances when people depended on mail and it is not the most reliable thing in wartime belt across oceans and continents. The second thing for me about luzie is when i got to know her she was deeply involved in our pioneering german program. That mappers claims may not have been the likeliest place to spend her life. After all a few years before we fled germany. She had spent years trying to get out of the clutches of the third race and yet here she was a couple decades later in the forefront, devoting a great deal of her life to trying to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between germany, the jewish people, through the vehicle of ajc. Back to the sl well as a very powerful story, a powerful story that suggests as has been said by a famous philosopher, it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness and i believe that was indeed her outlook. Timely for me, this luzie stories personal not because they knew and cared about her and not just because they know and care about you, Charlotte Bonelli and the remarkable effort youve made, but also because on a personal level i identify with the story. Had it not been for a man named maurice ruby and his wife, ida, who lived in the holy city, pennsylvania, an improbable destination for a family that began their life in russia, 14 members of my family would never have needed to the united states. Since those 14 people include my mother, i daresay i would not be standing here but for another luzie hatch. I cherish her memory, honor her memory and ask all of us to be a buyer to our own actions in response to the actions she took on behalf of her family. See thank you for being here. Charlotte come a special thanks to you for bringing the story to life. [applause] thank you. Can you hear me quiet just a few quick thank you here. I like to think cc jaffee for this tonight. Before there was asked at berlin there is a dusty pile of letters. When i said, you know, there is a book here, the system is special. We special. We have a book here, some people were not quite so believing. But not david harris. From the beginning he was dizzy and sick about this project and i really appreciated it. I would also like to thank her. A volunteer to translate the tosh about a man who is here. We clear approach, offended english professor. I was not so convinced that she persisted. And the very talented literary agent who handled this and that would be carol mann. I would be remiss if i did not think can bandler for his hard work in bringing exit berlin to the attention of the public and so we come to exit berlin. Exit berlin began with a phone call i received one day from a very excited. He had a donation for the archives from a collection of world war ii era letters he had stumbled upon in the apartment of the late luzie hatch. I was not very interested. In the past people had come forth with donations of may at never proved suitable. That this attorney was so excited about his discovery and it was clear to me that he was not about to give in so easily. There is another factor, although it ever know luzie, i knew she spent a lifetime of ajc. I said to myself, how could you not be the luck at the light . Out of respect for her memory on a brutal saturday i took the subway to her apartment in queens and i got into the studio apartment and roger gives me a black binder bursting with correspondence. As i started to turn the pages i began to notice an unusual. Model they were the letters received from all over the world, but offered copies of her outgoing letters. Cover both sides of the stories here. Matching correspondence is something youre expecting government elections. You expect the business collections. For a personal collection for the same. Is almost unheard of. I turn to roger blain and told him i would accept a collection. Luzie fled with the help of her American Workers and industrialists, arnold hatch. Once she is here, all of those family members trapped behind his germany asked the obvious question. If arnold st. Lucie, why cant he save me . What about me . However, arnold did not know german and they did not know english, so luzie between translator not a kit. Request to arnold passed through her eyes to his response is. And here, we come to another unique feature of this collection. Much has been made about how communal institutions, jewish writers and politicians responded to the holocaust. The little attention has been given to the Jewish American family. Indeed, when reading arnolds correspondent, it was the first time i ever stopped to really think that krisher what it was like for a family to deal with this crisis. Arnold corresponded not only with his relatives, the big officials come immigrant aid societys, u. S. Court officials. There is always a letter to write and there are always nagging question. Had his relatives received his letter click at his relative received the money he had to or had a nazi official pocketed it . With the following u. S. Immigration law . At one point he is concerned the spot of many affidavits that he wonders if perhaps hes broken the law. As Arnold Joseph the questions and he does so through the prism of the depression. In 1933 when mr. Board father had died, he inherited getting. When operating at full capacity, the factory employed yet in 1933 there were weeks when the doors opened in the morning and only 150 people passed to report to his job as understandably he wants to plan. He wants to be cautious and know that there will be work for the relatives who arrived. But for those who make it under the brutal had it not via some was not their economic future, but the simple title meet to skate, to be free, to survive. When luzie first arrived, her thai party was to adequate, stepmother helene. Holiness on the right of the lucius us on the left. Her young brother ralph for her uncle who was in prison. These documents were basically pledges signed by arnold speaking of his family could not find work in america that he would take. He would accept response ability. Embassy secures this document is into germany rather quickly. Within less than a month of her arrival. And her family although after shanghai, one that would prove nearly fatal. While her immediate family was her primary responsibility, there were other as well. Everybody is crying for help shirov. The situation in europe is terrible. In the limited time i limited time and how come i would like to turn briefly to three of those individuals, started with luzies aunt martha hart from germany. Her experience shows arnold was separated not merely by thousands of miles, but by a chasm of different perspectives. In 1940, and martha sent word of her reasonable plan of this tape hear from her did come of is reasonable. Arnold will see this quite differently. With her 12yearold daughter should take the train to berlin then not know, then the Transsiberian Railroad to support a blast out. He gives thumbs up of the distance they would be traveling. They would continue on to japan. Once in japan they could get another ship to shanghai which was an open port city. It is utterly product will to send to women via berlin moscow and japan. The American Express come to me and the utterly impossible 700 per does not guarantee a thing. [silence] august 30th, 1940, my dear hot, martha. This letter includes the very disappointing message for you, unfortunately. I am dreadfully sorry i must write this note. Arnold is against you going on the long, burdensome, an expensive trip over russia and japan. I want to give you personal advice now. I have ever mission for you. I have found out that the journey through russia has so far often been sponsored. Please contact them immediately to work this out for you. I strongly believe that it might be easier to have arnold do something. If one could tell him that the funding through japan is in short. I am very sorry, this is the only vice i am able to give you at the moment. I think about you, and i do everything in my power, but my limits are all too restrictive, unfortunately. I will remain being committed and having not forget all of you luzie hatch. Luzie hatch found herself im sorry. Luzie hatch found herself sandwiched between two profoundly conflicted courses, our american cousins caution and the growing desperation of relatives in germany. This is a delicate situation for a single woman in her 20s trying to make her way in new york where she is overwhelmed by the energy, the size, and the diversity of the city. Interestingly, she was surprised at her reaction. Fort luzie hatch was no country grow. She came from berlin, one of the worlds great cities, yet luzie hatch quickly learned that while there are many great cities in the world, there is only one new york. While she seldom revealed her inner thoughts, she once commented, my parents think that because i have here i can do everything for them. They forbid that i have not quite yet warmed up here and cannot even feed myself. The second correspondence i would like to speak about is the cousin because she introduces a chapter of the holocaust that has remained largely unknown outside and academic circles. A single woman in her 60s. She lived in the famed resort town of baden baden. On the right. Her sister on the left. Lucky enough to be able to make it to palestine with her family. In the late 1940s doors letters no longer come from bob and bob but had the return address campeau incurred barrick nine, para niece, france. I was so perplexed. I remember sitting in my office and working appeal the look and saying, what is that and how has an elderly, sick woman land of there . Or october 22nd 1940 starting a 6 00 a. M. Nazi officials began knocking on the doors of jewish homes not only in bonbon, but other cities and towns in the region. Jewish residents were given between 15 minutes and one hour to pack a bag. It is important to note that at this time cannot see jewish policy was not extermination, rather immigration that would be implemented through terror and discrimination. Given that the world refused to cooperate, shutting its doors, it is not surprising that the nazi cast their eyes of the southwestern corner of france where the camp is situated. You can see it in red there. There were other camps as well. It had originally been billed for refugees fleeing the spanish civil war. It is not fully occupied which leaves the nazi to conclude that here is a convenient dumping ground for at least some of germanys jews. You can see germany and gloom at the next map on the bottom, the historic home town. Is from the southwestern region of germany at 6,500 for jews are deported. The roster reveals that 116 are to be deported, but as Angelica Schindler recently pointed out to me, the actual number was 112. The morning of the deportation for individuals commute committed suicide. And what did it look like at this point . Disproportionately elderly and female. 66 percent of the deportees were women, and 58 percent were 60 or older. While their destination was not a death camp, death was always present. As revealed in the diary of oscar wolf, monday, December December 2nd, 1940, today again we had 12 funerals. This is an unworthy existence. Tuesday, december 3rd, 1940. Today we had 14 funerals. Wednesday december 4th, today we had 17 to generals. Let me just add that these images and the ones that will follow were down by internecine. A nurse who managed to smuggle out 150 pieces of art. Driving the camp mortality rate were barracks that kept out neither rain nor cold, inadequate medical supplies, poor sanitation, and in large parts of your undernourishment of the internees. The daily ration was 1200 calories. At the end of 1941 is reduced to 1,000. Three months of yom kippur, care packages from friends or relatives who greatly appreciated. In one letter he wrote, i received an excellent cake. You cannot imagine the happiness when a package like that is delivered to you and with what great appetite everything is relished. And in this drawing you see how one loaf of bread completely commands the attention of this group. The artists have really conveyed a great care with which every single slice will be cut. But at the end of february 1941 there was a bit of hope. The exit is has already begun, the barracks are slowly emptying it is possible that we may move to a new camp which we are all very happy about. There we will have better rooms, a table, chair where we can take your meals. A great change was under way. However, she was wrong to believe that she would be part of the transfer. She stayed behind and would pass away some months after she penned her hopeful other hopeful pleasure. Luzie hatch brings us directly into the world of germanys jewish population. By 1941 twothirds of german jewry would be passed middleage. This is a widow comoros and have fallen in world war one. On the right. On the left is for sister. As for of is obviously from a much earlier time are live. Her three children had gone to palestine. In addition she had watched as relatives and neighbors one after another left germany. As the dangers are everincreasing commerce support network is decreasing. Steinberg was trapped in a world of getting smaller and smaller. And while she expressed the hope of joining her children in palestine, i think that on the inside she must have realized that she was never going to see her children or grandchildren again. End the depression and fewer that she experienced must have fueled her anchor with luzie hatch for not correct rating with greater frequency. We will read excerpts from to. May 10th, 1939, your letter arrived approximately one hour ago, and you will receive an answer right away. You certainly do not deserve it because, der luzie hatch, you can believe me, never in my life have i been as disappointed as i was that you could not write to me sooner than half a year later i could not and did not want to believe that you could be so disloyal. It really hurt me. But in the end i had to accept it. There are no excuse. Something on arrival would have sufficed to make me happy which is also why when your father said the greetings from you and apologized on your behalf i wrote to him that i no longer attach great importance to your correspondence. It it is also two months since they arrived in palestine with the children. You can imagine my loneliness. Theyre living there for the time being, but now first to you , dear luzie hatch. First of all, i wish you a very, very happy birthday and all the best. Above all, stay healthy and continued to be courageous. To send us your engages engagement announcement. Then maybe you can have me come over. Because otherwise, dear luzie hatch, we will surely never see each other again in his lifetime with lots of love and a heartfelt but they kissed from near and paula. Thank you. You can listen to additional recordings on the website. In addition to her correspondence with her family, exit berlin has her exchanges with friends who escaped germany i thought it was important to put these in the book because these letters were importance to luzie hatch. Once she left at the end she was an anonymous figure. How wonderful it must have been toy go home and find a letter from someone in a carrot rather. And these are not letters about immigration or ship tickets. At least at times whether with haunted someone he sent this advertisement. The free land is very dear friend who send word from bolivia. One of these