Testimonial #2:

Henry Warner Laurant was born on May 28, 1924 in Konigsberg. His father was a doctor and his mother was an artist. His family lived very well. They have servants and a huge apartment. He considers himself as more involved in the practices of Jews than her parents. His parents were practiced holidays but they are not as involved as him. His first experience of discrimination was when he was 5 years old. When he was in high school, he had two friends. One was a full Jew and the other was half Jew. During that time, they were being bullied by their schoolmates. He and his friends experienced being separated from other students in the school who were not Jew. In 1934, he witnessed the Nazis destroyed the sign on his father’s office. By 1936, his whole family moved from Konigsberg. Their reason for leaving was that discrimination against the Jews was worsening. And on April of 1936, his father changed his specialty from pediatrics to psychiatry. His father practiced his new specialty in Berlin. His parents decided to enroll him and his sister to a private school instead of a public school. Despite the rise of the Nazis at that time, they were still able to live normally. Or so they seemed. In 1938, while he was at the theater, a soldier just barged in and requested that all Jews in the theater to leave. By the time Kristallnacht was in effect, his family went into hiding. And at that time, they were separated. But they reunited 4 days later. He recalls that when Kristallnacht was in effect, Jewish businesses were being closed since it was very popular in Germany at that time. He did not experience the cruelty of the Nazis physically, but the terror that the Nazis caused him and his family was and will always be unforgettable.

Quotes from Henry: “Jews have to fight very hard for assimilation.” “There is always discrimination.”