henry laurant

Henry Laurant was born on May 28, 1924 in Koenigsberg, province of East Russia. Henry had two children, Alexander and Nicholas. Father is Walter Levy, mother is Irna Levy- Barant,and sister is Analise who is 2 yrs older, born July 1922. he grew up in an apartment around a lake and his father is a doctor and had his own medical practice. who he described as an intellectual. Although Henry had some memories of his childhood of discrimination and anti-Semitism, At school the discrimination and violence worsened. He recalled fending off attacks from Hitler Youth and being subjected to a barrage of antisemitic classroom lessons. therefore he turned to strengthen to his Jewish identity. As the result, he developed his sense of identity and religious traditions through family friends

 After Kristallnacht, he was temporary separation with his parent to go to England and in contact with them weekly but after the war began, their messages via the Red Cross were less frequent and more guarded.

In 1943, Henry’s parents went into hiding for several months before being caught trying to illegally cross the Swiss border. Although Henry sensed the worst had happened, he did not know until many years later that his sister was murdered in Riga and that his parents perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

After being turned down by the British Army, over the next three years Henry performed war agricultural work while attending evening classes to obtain his high school certificate. later he was accepted into the U.S. Intelligence Corps and sent to Germany.

quotes :

“Religion would be a part of one's identify"

“He recalled fending off attacks from Hitler Youth and being subjected to a barrage of antisemitic classroom lessons".