Werner Kleeman

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Werner Kleeman (born September 26, 1919 in Gaukönigshofen ; † July 2018 ) was a German-American author of a book about his own memories from the time of National Socialism and the Second World War .

Life

Kleeman came from the Jewish Kleemann family in Gaukönigshofen in Lower Franconia . Werner was one of five children. His father was a grain dealer. When the National Socialists took power, the family's living conditions quickly deteriorated. Kleemann was forbidden to continue attending secondary school in Würzburg. In 1936 his father was ruined.

Kleemann had already applied for an exit visa for two years when he was deported to Dachau concentration camp at the end of 1938 . His family's house had previously been devastated during the Night of the Reichspogrom . With the help of a distant Nebraska cousin , he was able to buy his way out. He was released from the concentration camp on December 22, 1938. Kleeman was able to travel to Great Britain via the Netherlands. A friend helped him buy out the rest of his family and bring them to London. In November 1940 he emigrated to the USA . He changed his name, stayed with a cousin in Queens , and worked in a department store.

On July 22, 1942, Kleeman was drafted into the American Army. As an interpreter and infantryman, he took part in the landing in Normandy on the night of June 6, 1944 - brought across the English Channel by the ship LST -282 - where he set foot on French soil in the second wave on Utah Beach . On September 12, 1944, Kleeman's unit crossed the German border near Elcherath . In the spring of 1945, after the surrender, he went to Gaukönigshofen against the orders of his superior to arrest the National Socialists in his town. He personally arrested the man who had arrested him years earlier. He also met a neighbor who had hidden and kept some Jewish ceremonial items. He gave the US military police the names of the villagers who were involved in pogroms .

Back in the US, Kleeman worked as an interior decorator and married. He was interviewed by Tom Brokaw at a veterans' meeting in France , but otherwise kept silent about his experiences, including to his family. With the help of the author Elizabeth Uhlig, Kleeman wrote down his memories from 2004 onwards. From Dachau to D-Day was published in 2006. Kleeman refused to speak German.

literature

  • Werner Kleeman: From Dachau to D-Day . Rego Park, NY; Marble House Ed., 2006 ISBN 978-0978674533 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Kleeman (1919-2018) In: kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de , accessed on October 6, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Kleeman, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American author and victim of National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Gaukönigshofen
DATE OF DEATH July 2018