Heinz Levi was born in Saarlouis on October 3, 1922, the eldest son of August and Sofie Levi. His father very successfully ran a cattle and horse trading firm in the seventh generation with his brother. Heinz Levi grew up in a cherished and sheltered environment with his one year younger sister Johanna Helene. He followed in his father’s footsteps and attended an agricultural school. His little sister Lore was born in 1935.
The return of the Saargebiet (Territory of the Saar Basin) to the German Reich in 1935 marked the beginning of the economic decline of this Jewish family. From September 1935 on, they were forced to sell their house and properties for far below the proper value. Because the Saargebiet was declared a restricted area when war broke out, the Levi family had to leave their home. Heinz Levi, his parents and his sisters, each with just one small suitcase, arrived in Munich where they had to rely on the support of the Jewish community. The parents were separated from their children. Heinz found a place in the Jewish apprentices’ hostel at Hohenzollernstrasse 4, while his parents lived in a single room at Tengstrasse 32. His sister Johanna began an apprenticeship in the Jewish children’s home in Antonienstrasse, and liitle Lore was taken in by the family of the lawyer Hans Bloch. 17 year old Heinz worked in road construction to begin with and later in a horticultural firm. From September 1940 he lived together with his parents at Lindwurmstrasse 19.
Heinz’s mother had already been in touch with relatives in the USA in 1937, but all efforts to emigrate there were in vain. On November 20, 1941, the Gestapo (secret state police) deported Heinz Levi with his parents and sisters to Kaunas together with just under 1,000 other Jews. Five days later the SS shot all the deportees. (TExt: Eva Strauß; editor: C. Fritsche: translation C. Hales)
