2. 1
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to analyze the motives and the effects of conversion on the
religious convictions of European Jews who converted to Christianity during the years leading
up to the Final Solution. The overarching goal of the research is to identify sincerity when
possible, and to examine how conversion shaped the religious identity of converts throughout
their lives. The experience of second generation converts and Mischlinge were also included in
this study to give a broader perspective. Oral testimonies from the online archives of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum were used as primary sources to identify the effects of
conversion on religious convictions before and after the Holocaust. In turn, this research will
help identify whether these converts wanted to separate themselves from their Jewish roots, thus
making a distinction between their former Jewish religion and their ethnicity. Additionally, this
research will aid in discovering to what extent these recent converts suffered as Jews, even if
they selfidentified as Christians. The findings from these sources shed light on the larger
theological issues arising in the context of JewishChristian relations, explore the importance of
religious identity in the face of trauma, and tackle the question of sincere conversion during the
Holocaust, when most only converted for protection.
Introduction
Since the birth of Christianity, converting the Jews has been somewhat of the “ultimate
goal.” During the age of emancipation, however, Jews began to convert on their own for a
variety of reasons. The motives for conversion vary based on the time and place in which the
convert lived. In this study, the lives of converts who lived during the Holocaust were examined
in order to ascertain the effects of conversion on their lives. Identifying the motives behind
conversion provide a gateway to understanding the ways in which conversion affected the
converts later in life, and gives the historical context necessary to understand the implications for
the Jewish community and for JewishChristian relations.
When studying conversion in the context of Jewish history, scholars have tried to
ascertain the sincerity of these conversions. However, certain eras in Jewish history have posed
3. 2
more of a problem than others. For example, during the age of emancipation Jews could convert
for material gain, or to flee antisemitism, even if it was only minor or hindered them in any way
occupationally. There was no impending tragedy that caused Jews to convert during this time.
They had the freedom, as well as the potential benefits to look forward to. As fellow convert
Heinrich Heine put it, conversion was “the ticket of admission into European culture.” When 1
looking at conversion during the years leading up to the Final Solution, however, there is an
added complication. This impending tragedy and the trauma felt afterwards by survivors makes
studying the motives for conversion and the relationship of the converts to Judaism even more
complex. Sincerity, therefore, becomes almost impossible to measure. Additionally, it is
necessary to take into consideration that many conversions in this era were done for protection.
In some cases, Jews who were converted as small children still felt an obligation or an
attachment to Judaism later in life, while others felt no attachment at all. The complex
combination of these factors make studying conversion in the Holocaust, especially when
thinking about it in terms of sincerity, even more complicated. The results, however, yield a
greater understanding of the ways in which trauma affects religious identity. Ultimately, the hope
is that by studying the individual lives of converts rather than just numerical data, a new level of
understanding of the complexity of religious identity in the Holocaust will be reached.
Many factors come into play when working with oral testimonies recorded up to fifty
years after the events took place. Moreover, it must be noted that there were likely a combination
of factors contributing to their decision to convert beyond pragmatism, especially depending on
1
"Heinrich Heine: German Lyric Poet and Jewish Political Agitator." Sitewide ATOM. N.p., 03 July 2012.
Web. 22 July 2016.
<http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/07/heinrichheinegermanlyricpoetandjewishpoliticalagitator
/>.
4. 3
the region in which they lived. Converts came from a myriad of backgrounds. Some were fully
Jewish, but had received no religious instruction and had grown up in a secular environment,
while others were raised in traditional Jewish homes. Still, some were the children of parents
who had converted previously, or were the children of an intermarriage, making them
Mischlinge under Nazi law, and therefore, subject to certain legislation. Taking religious
background, age, education, life experiences, and the region in which they lived into account,
converts generally either felt some obligation to Judaism after converting, were confused about
their religious identity, walked away from religion altogether, or had a genuine spiritual
transformation upon converting.
I. Obligation to Judaism
The level of Jewish education differed in converts; however, a number of them, even
after converting, demonstrated varying degrees of attachment to their Jewish heritage, feeling an
obligation to Judaism in some way. In some cases, this meant that they still considered
themselves Jewish, and in others cases they wanted to honor Jewish family members who
perished by identifying as Jewish. Still, others wanted to raise Jewish children even if they were
raised in a secular household. Many times, with this feeling of “obligation” came a sense of dual
loyalty and even betrayal to Judaism, even to the point of feeling completely out of place in both
churches and synagogues, as exemplified through Arlette De Long’s testimony. Another aspect
of feeling obligated to Judaism in some way, is the basic acknowledgment of one’s Jewish
heritage despite previous indifference or even hatred towards it. Jews who experienced
conversion likely cycled through the feelings of indifference, betrayal, guilt, and
5. 4
acknowledgment, but in the following cases, they arrived at a place where they felt a sense of
duty to continue their Jewish heritage by various means.
It is difficult to ascertain the number of conversion in countries such as France and Great
Britain, whose civil governments did not recognize any change in one’s religious status. There
were generally three kinds of converts in 19th century France: Jews who converted for social and
material reasons, Jews who were looking for the meaning of life through spirituality, experienced
a genuine conversion, and afterwards shared their faith with their friends, and Jews who were
uneducated, poor, and were swept up in the words of the missionaries. Scholar Todd Endelman
suggests that for those who fit in the third category of poor, uneducated Jews, “it is clear that
poverty and emotional distress rather than social prejudice and occupational discrimination were
responsible for their abandonment of Judaism.” Endelman also notes that the small number of 2
French Jews who did convert for social/occupational reasons during the middle of the 19th
century, were not converting because they were on the outskirts of society, but because they
were very integrated, and wanted to avoid any possible hiccup in their complete assimilation and
acculturation. Primarily, Jews in the first half of the 19th century were able to gain success and
social status without converting. The majority of Jews during this period in French history were
being integrated into society without encountering significant hostility. In addition, there was not
a significant amount of French Jews who emigrated from France during this time, showing that
conditions in France and Germany were not as similar as some scholars have previously
suggested. 3
2
Endelman, Todd M. "AntiSemitism and Apostasy in NineteenthCentury France: A Response to Jonathan
Helfand." Jewish History 5.2 (1991): 5764. Web. (p. 61).
3
Endelman, pp. 5963
6. 5
Jews in 1930s France were generally safe, but upon Hitler’s takeover, some Jews were
not above converting or posing as Christians in order to protect themselves. Arlette De Long’s
family did just that. Arlette was born in Brocourt, Somme France on June 15, 1937, and as the
only Jewish family in their small village of 300 people, in addition to being the only doctors in
the area, her family lived comfortably. Beginning in 1940 when Germany invaded France, life
changed for Arlette’s family. Even before Kristallnacht, her parents had an ominous feeling that
it was becoming unsafe to be a Jew in Europe. At this time, they hid their Jewish identity, which
was relatively easy since it was already assumed that no one in her village was Jewish. When
Arlette was ten, she and her family moved to Paris. She recounts this time as the first time she
became aware that her family was Jewish. 4
Once in Paris, her family continued to pretend they were Christians and had Arlette
baptized into the Catholic church. Consequently, she was able to attend Catholic school and
church regularly. Regarding her feelings about church, Arlette thought the priest was “very nice”
and that what was taught each Sunday was “very simple If you are good, God loves you.” “The
Jewish religion did not offer the same kind of comfort...God was removed [from us]...it was a
God that every year looked at you and decided whether you would live or die.” Arlette
continued, “I didn’t like the synagogue. It looked like just a rooman empty, cold room.” She
was also afraid of the rabbi, since he had daughters that he for whom he had arranged marriages
against their will. With all of these conflicting feelings, senses, and beliefs, Arlette decided that
she “did not like... being a Jew.” 5
4
Arlette De Long Oral History Interview, February 6, 1993 by Larry Papier.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511640>.
5
Arlette De Long
7. 6
During this time she remembers that her father still attended synagogue, but there were
no Jewish symbols in their home, and they did not keep kosher. They did, however, celebrate the
major Jewish holidays. She specifically remembers Yom Kippur, which left an imprint on her
young memory after all these years. After turning eighteen and moving out on her own, Arlette
stopped attending religious services. After immigrating to the United States in 1962, getting
married to a Methodist to escape her Jewish heritage, and trying to take her children to
synagogue, Arlette decided to raise her children without any religious instruction, in order to let
them choose for themselves. Upon moving to the United States if people asked what religion
was, she would tell them she was Jewish. Of her two children, her son had neither a connection
with nor a desire to embrace Judaism. Her daughter, on the other hand, was so inquisitive about
the Holocaust that it encouraged Arlette to embrace her Jewish roots as an adult, so much so, that
she said she could “never convert,” despite the fact that she had previously never felt a strong
connection to Judaism. 6
Later in life, Arlette attended synagogue, but always felt “out of place.” She also went to
church sporadically, but would always cry when she attended, and could not stay because she felt
that she “didn’t belong.” It would seem that Arlette never considered herself truly converted
from Judaism to Catholicism, despite her baptism as a child. Furthermore, this fact illustrates that
in Arlette’s case, her Jewish identity was more closely linked with culture and less with religion.
Additionally, Arlette’s comment about Judaism teaching that every year God “ looked at you and
decided whether you would live or die,” points out Arlette’s desire, even if subconscious, to
understand of the nature of Godwhether he was a good, loving God, or a God full of wrath who
6
Arlette De Long Oral History Interview, February 6, 1993 by Larry Papier.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511640>.
8. 7
had allowed the Holocaust to happen. Her family was not religious, but she did remember that
Yom Kippur had the most impact on her as a child. It would make sense then that this Day of
Atonement would shape her beliefs about the nature of God, since it is the day that God
determines your fate. Though Arlette may have been uncertain about her religious convictions at
this point in her life, she was ultimately grasping for some understanding of God. Arlette was
taught in Catholic school that “if you are good, God loves you,” and from her comments, it
would seem that although this version of God’s character was a bit less frightening, she still felt a
connection to Judaism. Although Arlette felt out of place at both synagogues and churches
throughout her life, she nevertheless came to terms with her Jewish heritage, and found it easier
to embrace Judaism than Christianity. 7
Like Arlette, Denise Epstein was born in Paris, France in 1929 to highly educated,
acculturated parents. Her father was a successful banker, and her mother was a famous author.
When the war broke out, however, her mother’s books were unable to be published because she
was Jewish, and Denise was forced to wear the yellow star. Within the span of a few months,
both of Denise’s parents were arrested, and she was secretly baptized in Paris in 1939. After
receiving certificates of disappearance for both of her parents, Denise was sent to a Catholic
boarding school where all outside contact was prohibited. The nuns at this convent adamantly
tried to convince her that her best option was to stay there and become a nun so that “at least God
would protect her;” however, Denise was not interested. Eventually, she was given permission
not to attend mass anymore, and to start completely embracing her life as a Jew. After this point
in her life, she “refused to be Catholic.” After the war, Denise began working at her father’s old
7
Arlette De Long
9. 8
bank and met her future husband there, who was not Jewish, but had fought in the war and had a
tumultuous childhood as well. Upon meeting each other, the couple decided that raising happy
children would be the solution to overcoming their terrible pasts. Specifically, Denise felt it
would be a “victory” to raise Jewish children. 8
Though Denise came from a very assimilated Jewish family, the decision to completely
reject Catholicism and embrace Judaism at such a young age (she would have been ten or eleven
years old) is astonishing. Also interesting to note is that though Denise did not marry a Jewish
man, she felt that it would be a “victory” to raise Jewish children. Whether Denise’s decision to
reject Catholicism and embrace Judaism had more to do with her experiences at the convent or
feeling an obligation to her parent’s faith, her decision nonetheless exemplifies the eventual
acknowledgement of some Holocaust survivors of their Judaism despite initial conversion.
In some cases, converts were exposed to both Judaism and Christianity at a young age,
which confused them and made it difficult for them to feel a connection to either religion.
Gertrude Goetz experienced this type of pull in both directions. She was born in Vienna, Austria
in 1941 and was the only child of her parents. Gertrude’s family owned a dry goods store and
lived in a Gentile area, thus she was not exposed to Judaism. Her mother did not believe in
anything even though she was raised Jewish. Her father, on the other hand, came from a religious
home, but after marrying, he stopped observing any traditions since his wife was not religious.
There was one Jewish family that lived in the same apartment complex as Gertrude’s family, and
those children became her best friends. It was only when Gertrude went over to this family’s
apartment that she was exposed to Jewish traditions. For a brief time Gertrude attended first
8
Transcript, Denise Epstein Oral History Interview, August 17, 2005, by Vera Frankl.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn517507>.
10. 9
grade at a public school, but after that time she and the other Jewish students in her apartment
complex could not go there anymore, so they began attending a Jewish school. It was there that
she learned about Judaism for the first time. 9
In 1938, Gertrude’s father was taken to Dachau, and the rest of her family obtained visas
to Italy. Upon arriving, Gertrude was granted permission to attend a certain school which was
being run by a group of Italian nuns in her village. Her mother wanted her to be taught, so she
approached the Mother Superior, who said that Gertrude’s soul was destined for purgatory. If
Gertrude were to stay, she explained, the nuns would have to be allowed to influence her,
including in religion. Her mother said that because the Jews have suffered so much already, that
it would be fine if Gertrude were taught by the nuns. During the time that Gertrude was at the
convent, she learned about Catholicism. “They flattered me...they made me read one day a
prophecy...that the war would end on April 20, 1943, the day of Hitler’s birthday…” so she went
home to her mother and said that if the war ended on that day, then she would know that the
Catholic religion was the real religion and she would therefore convert. While at this Catholic
school, some peers would taunt her and ask her how many Christs there were, and one day she
decided to answer “300,” prompting the priest to have a meeting with her and her mother. It was
at that point that she realized she really had to monitor what she said in front of people. Gertrude
recalled, “I felt torn between being Jewish and being possibly Catholic.” 10
9
Gertrude Goetz Oral History Interview, May 19, 1984, by Oral History Interviews of the University of
California, Los Angeles Holocaust Testimonies Project.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn503599>.
10
Gertrude Goetz Oral History Interview, May 19, 1984, by Oral History Interviews of the University of
California, Los Angeles Holocaust Testimonies Project.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn503599>.
11. 10
Since Gertrude’s family was not religious, the only time she was ever exposed to Judaism
was when she spent time with the Jewish family in her apartment complex. Moreover, the
education Gertrude received at her school most likely filled in the gaps of her lack of Jewish
education at home. It makes sense then that the religious instruction Gertrude received at the
convent would contrast with what she already knew about Judaism. Even more confusing for
Gertrude must have been that she was never formally converted, only instructed in Catholicism,
thus causing her to feel torn between Catholicism and Judaism. Though she was exposed to both
religions, she could not have felt torn if she did not possess at least some inclination towards
Judaism.
For converts born to observant parents, the transition from Judaism to Christianity was
even more complex. Susan Lederman was born in 1937 in Bratislava, Slovakia and was the only
child. Her father owned a printing shop and her mother worked part time as his bookkeeper, but
both parents had a farming background. Her parents also had a solid Jewish education. Susan
explained that her family was “modern Orthodox” and observed Jewish dietary laws and the
sabbath. The entire Jewish community in which they lived was very well integrated into society.
Her town was about 100,000, and Jews and nonJews had good relationships with one another.
Susan’s father was very well connected with the nonJewish community which helped them later
on. He was also involved with a number of secular organizations as well as Bnai B’rith. In 1943,
Susan’s parents had her converted so that she would be able to start school. She had to go into
hiding in 1944 and there was a partisan uprising in the mountains that year. At the same time,
12. 11
Nazis invaded Slovakia and life became even more dangerous. Susan explained that there were
some deportations before 1944, but not many. 11
In the spring of 1943, Susan was at her grandparents’ house when her family’s seamstress
picked her up and gave her a dress to wear. She immediately took her to a Lutheran church
where she remembered kneeling on a red cushion with a priest nearby. It was at this time that she
was converted to Lutheranism, which was the minority religion since Czechoslovakia was a
Catholic country. The conversion enabled Susan to start school, but it was also her parent’s way
of protecting her. Susan said that the conversion “did not change any deep held feelings...I still
knew I was Jewish.” One of Susan’s earliest memories was the firing of her German Christian
nurse due to legislation forbidding Gentiles to work for Jews. She also remembers tense train
rides to visit grandparents, and that two other Jewish families moved in with her family. 12
Susan’s parents had attempted to leave Slovakia for the United States before the war in
1938; however, their visas came too late. Susan said, “There was a great deal of discussion on
how to protect me.” She spent the summer of 1944 in a small village that was predominantly
Catholic with another family for protection. The only Lutheran church was a couple of villages
away. She ran into two of her Jewish friends from her old school at this church. Wondering why
they were there, she made a scene, causing her host family to worry that the incident would
expose them for hiding a Jew. One day, some German soldiers approached her while Susan was
outside and asked directions. Since Susan was the only one in the village who knew German, it
made her look suspicious. For her own protection she had to leave the village. 13
11
Susan Lederman Oral History Interview, 1984, by Sidney Langer.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn503102>.
12
Susan Lederman
13
Susan Lederman
13. 12
A group of Catholic nuns were taking in Jewish children nearby. Instead of going to this
convent, she went to live with the Gentile family in the small village until they sent her back to
her mother. In 1944, Susan returned to her parents from the village, and at the time her parents
were hiding in a bombed out factory in Bratislava. Susan describes the situation as “luck”
because at the very same time that she returned home, the Catholic nuns who were hiding the
Jewish children were deported to concentration camps, and so were all of the children. Susan
stayed with an Hungarian Christian family in Bratislava who were “willing to risk it” since
Susan had blonde hair and blue eyes, and they had an extra room in their house because they had
no children. Susan pretended to be their niece visiting and lived under an assumed name. They
woke her up several times in the middle of the night to drill her on who she was and what she
was doing there. She also had to pretend that she didn’t understand German. At this point in her
life, Susan understood that she was in danger because she was Jewish. 14
After liberation in April 1944 by the Russians, her parents were able to visit her once a
month at the home of the Christian family. Susan’s father had an exemption because of his work,
and had good contacts in the Jewish community, giving her family some protection. During the
time that followed, Susan recalled that there was a shortage of food, and her parents were finding
out who in the family survived. Most of her family members died, and it was a very sad time.
After the war, her family moved into an apartment and did not return to their house. Susan came
to the United States in 1948 with her parents, since both of them had family in New York. 15
Following the war, her parents no longer kept a kosher home, and Susan did not have
anymore Jewish education. Her father had always been an observant Jew, but now he was only
14
Susan Lederman Oral History Interview, 1984, by Sidney Langer.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn503102>.
15
Susan Lederman
14. 13
an observant Jew “in spirit.” Her mother “never believed again.” Susan’s view of the Jewish
question as a child was that it was “part of [her] conscience and being.” Specifically, she
remembers being upset with friends who didn’t have the patience to read the Diary of Anne
Frank. The family that was already in the U.S. did not want to know anything about what had
happened to Susan’s family or to the rest of the Jews of Europe. They refused to talk about it,
and Susan was upset. She and her parents were the only ones in the family willing to
acknowledge that the Holocaust actually happened. Susan’s family was helped by HIAS, like
many other Jewish families who emigrated. Susan mentioned the concept of a “perception gap”
that existed among survivors.“More could have been done” by the United States and other
countries to prevent the Holocaust, she said. Despite the failings of America, “I am an inherent
optimist.” [The United States] “is still an accepting society.” 16
Though Susan was converted secretly at a young age, she nevertheless understood that
she was Jewish and that what was happening to her was a result of being Jewish. Her testimony
raises questions of the great lengths educated, observant families were willing to go in order to
protect their children, up to and including conversion, knowing that their children could grow up
and walk away completely from the Jewish faith. In Susan’s case, she did not become indifferent
to Judaism, but rather, felt a duty to bear witness to what she and millions of others experienced
in the Holocaust.
Similarly, Krystyna Budnicka was also born in 1932 to an observant Jewish family of ten
in Warsaw, Poland. After being relocated into the Warsaw ghetto, surviving the Great
Deportation, and also witnessing the Warsaw ghetto uprising, Krystyna was able to finish high
16
Susan Lederman Oral History Interview, 1984, by Sidney Langer.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn503102>.
15. 14
school at a Christian orphanage where she remembers being treated very kindly. As an adult,
Krystyna acknowledged her Jewish roots, but adopted Christianity as her religion and devoted
her life to working with special needs children. It is unknown what caused Krystyna to embrace
Christianity; however, it is interesting to note the possible link between being raised in an
observant household and her acknowledgment of her Jewish heritage, while still embracing
Christianity. 17
Unlike Susan Lederman and Krystyna Budnicka, Eva Koepsell was born to Jewish
parents who both converted to Catholicism when she was a child. Born in Budapest, Hungary in
1944, Eva was raised Roman Catholic. Her mother was a social worker, but immediately lost her
job because she was Jewish. Her father was a physicist and was able to keep his job until 1943.
By the time Eva was eight months old, her family was living in different cellars in the ghetto. In
a matter of months, Eva’s father was deported to a labor camp. At one point, Eva’s mother
decided that the only way to survive would be to take off the yellow star and leave the ghetto.
There was a sense that even their conversion papers would not do much for them. Eva recalled
that some of her parents’ friends also converted, but were still deported. In order to get Eva to a
safe place, her mother took her to a Red Cross facility in Hungary and left her there for a few
months. Eva described life in Budapest after the war: “chaos, starvation, no medical supplies.”
Everyone was frantically searching for lost relatives. She explained how Hungarian Jews were
very assimilated, but lost so much in a very short amount of time. 18
17
Krystyna Budnicka Oral History Interview, July 1994, by Nathan Beyrak.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn507764>.
18
Eva Koepsell Oral History Interview, February 19, 1990 by Toby Ticktin Back.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511795>.
16. 15
In 1947, her family immigrated to the United States, and Eva recalls that there was “lots
of eating.” Eva later attended a Catholic school since she was raised Roman Catholic. Eva
remembered that in school she learned catechisms and lessons about Jesus being Jewish, and she
would tell her parents what she learned. According to Eva, they would always “talk up being
Jewish” that being Jewish “was a wonderful thing.” Eva asked her parents why her other
relatives in New York were Jewish and they were not, at which point they explained to her that
they were also Jewish, much to Eva’s surprise. Her parents told her it was a good thing that she
was a Catholicthat it would protect her from the next Holocaust. When Eva had a child of her
own and named him David, her mother was horrified and told her the name sounded “too
Jewish,” and that “come the next Holocaust, he would be picked out.” Eva’s mother eventually
returned to Hungary when she was 80 years old, and moved into an Orthodox Jewish home for
the elderly where it was necessary for her to prove her Jewish heritage. Eva, on the other hand,
remarked, “Sometimes I feel guilty [for being alive].” 19
Since Eva’s parents converted to Catholicism before she was born, Eva was raised
Roman Catholic, and was not aware that she was Jewish until her family moved to the United
States and started school. Interestingly, it was her parents that encouraged her to embrace her
Jewish roots, though at the time she was receiving a Catholic education. In this case, Eva’s
parents experienced the most attachment to Judaism after their conversion; whereas, Eva did not
grasp the full meaning of the situation until much later in life. Eva’s situation is unique in that
she was not formally converted to Catholicism. It was her parents who had the most impact on
19
Eva Koepsell Oral History Interview, February 19, 1990 by Toby Ticktin Back.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511795>.
17. 16
how she viewed Judaism, and consequently, she then felt an obligation to Judaism despite not
being raised Jewish.
Conclusion
The commonality among the aforementioned testimonies is that the converts all received
some sort of religious instruction early in life. Coupled with the knowledge of their Jewish
heritage, it caused them to question their religious identity later in life. Though these conversions
were performed for protection, the testimonies indicate the extent to which Jewish education (or
lack thereof) affected the converts’ ability to completely abandon Judaism and embrace
Christianity. In each case, regardless of their religious upbringing or age of conversion, the
converts felt an obligation to Judaism in some capacity, whether through acknowledging their
roots, raising Jewish children, or simply feeling the need to educate people on their experiences.
Because these conversions were for protection, the question of sincerity does pose a problem. In
fact, in this case, it is irrelevant. What can be said, however, is that converting for protection did
not necessarily mean that the convert abandoned their Jewish faith. Even if one was raised in a
secular environment, in some cases they still possessed an inclination towards Judaism,
especially if the conversion happened at a young age, or if they discovered their Jewish roots
later in life.
II. Intermarriage and Conversion
Just as protection was a strong motive for conversion in 1930s Europe, intermarriage
laws also contributed to the rise in conversion in places where this legislation was in effect. Even
in countries such as Germany, whose governments recognized civil marriagemeaning Jews and
Christians were allowed to get marriedthere were still a number of conversions which took
18. 17
place after the unification of Germany and the formal emancipation of the Jews in 1871. In
Germany from 18811885, the average number of Jews who converted to Protestant Christianity
was 198, and then jumped to 459 between the years of 18961900. After the turn of the century,
conversion began to declineaveraging 359 conversions per year between 19111915, and then
lowering to 142 conversions per year between 19261930. Between the years of 19011905, the
intermarriage rate was 8.99%, and climbed steadily for the next thirty years. From 192630, the
intermarriage rate was 21.52%. During the Weimar Republic period in Germany, it was Jewish
men who were more likely to intermarry than Jewish women. This trend can be seen in the 20
following testimony of Juergen Simonson, who was born in Germany to one Jewish and one
Aryan parent.
Juergen Simonson was born in East Germany in 1924, to an Aryan mother and Jewish
father whose own parents had converted to Christianity; thus, Juergen was raised Christian, and
his family had “very few links to the Jewish community.” After the Nuremberg Laws, Juergen’s
father was dismissed from his position as a judge, and the family moved to Dresden in 1938 to
escape antisemitism. Even after the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws in September 1935, the
Berlin missionary society still received applications for baptism. In fact, from January to April
1936, there were 46 converts. Throughout the second half the 1930s in Germany, Jews continued
to convert, despite the mounting complaints from antisemites. Even matters such as Christians of
Jewish descent being buried in Christian cemeteries incited conflict and caused local antisemites
to complain. During this time, however, there was nothing major to be gained by Jews who
20
Lowenstein, Steven M. "Jewish Intermarriage and Conversion in Germany and Austria." Modern Judaism
25.1 (2005): 2361. Web. (pp. 25, 30, 42).
19. 18
wished to convert, since Nazi legislation targeted race, not religion. Still, there continued to be
those who desired baptism. 21
In March 1939, Juergen’s father was able to flee to England after obtaining a travel visa
from an Aryan sponsor, leaving Juergen and his mother in Germany. During this time, Juergen
did not have to wear the yellow star since he was a Mischlinge, and was relatively protected
because his mother was Aryan. After graduating from high school in 1942, Juergen worked on
repairing railroads that had been bombed from April 1944 to September 1944. Escaping forced
labor, Juergen was able to get a job with the U.S. Army, and later contacted Bishop George Bell
in England to inquire on the whereabouts of his father. Recalling his meeting with Bell decades
later, Juergen said, “He had the most translucent blue eyes that I’ve ever seen...you really saw
through the eyes into his soul.” In 1945, Juergen visited his father in England who had become
an Anglican priest in the interim. In Dresden, he had attended an Anglican church. 22
Juergen eventually followed in his father’s footsteps and attended a theological seminary
in England and became ordained in 1952. His initial pull to ministry came when he was in a
German POW camp and was asked to give a sermon. The only scripture he knew well enough to
preach on was John 6:68: “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life.’” At the start of his ministry, Juergen was neither involved nor
interested in becoming involved with the ecumenical movement or JewishChristian relations,
which were still on shaky terms. Later in his ministry, however, he became involved with the
Council for Christians and Jews. When asked about the links between antiJudaism and
21
Clark, Christopher M. The Politics of Conversion: Missionary Protestantism and the Jews in Prussia,
17281941. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995. Print. (pp. 297 298).
22
Juergen Simonson Oral History Interview, March 30, 1998 by Peggy Obrecht.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn506688>.
20. 19
antisemitism, Juergen believed that they have “very close ties with one another.” Juergen feels
that the Gospels in the New Testament do present a problem for JewishChristian relations, and
expressed doubts about Christianity ever being totally rid of antiJudaism. 23
Though Juergen was raised Christian and did not go through a conversion process, he still
experienced life as a Mischlinge under Nazi legislation. The Nazi legislation that was passed on
April 7, 1933 excluded anyone from the civil service who was “racially Jewish.” Therefore, even
conversion to Christianity did not help, because it was only changing one’s religion, not their
ethnicity. In Juergen’s case, he was raised as a Christian but still fell under Mischlinge status.
Additionally, this new law helped spark the birth of the Confessing Church of Germany, which
Juergen commented, was a “great encouragement” to his family and many others. Surprisingly,
there was not a large number of pastors of Jewish origin who were affected by the enactment of
this law. 24
In 1933, there were approximately 18,000 German Protestant pastors, but only 29 were of
Jewish origin, and of that number, 11 were exempt since they fought for Germany in WWI. 25
Juergen and his father were not apart of the Confessing Church since their congregations were in
England; however, if Juergen and his father had decided to stay in Germany, they would have
fallen under this category of pastors of Jewish origin. Juergen was convinced that if his father
had not received a sponsorship from his diplomat friend, that he would have had to wear the
yellow star and would have eventually been deported. 26
23
Juergen Simonson
24
Clark, Christopher M. The Politics of Conversion: Missionary Protestantism and the Jews in Prussia,
17281941. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995. Print. (p. 289).
25
Clark, p. 290
26
Juergen Simonson Oral History Interview, March 30, 1998 by Peggy Obrecht.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn506688>.
21. 20
In Juergen’s family’s case, they were able to escape Germany. If they had stayed,
however, they would have been subject to the chaos that followed. Since Juergen was a
Mischlinge, he was relatively protected because of his mother's Aryan status. Though his family
did not belong to a Reich association, many nonAryan Christian families like Juergen’s were
members of Reich associations. In 1936, these individuals numbered about 60,000. In a census
taken May 17, 1939, there were 23,529 Christians of nonAryan descent (“racial Jews”) in
Germany, and of that number, 13,126 belonged to Protestant churches. People inside and 27
outside the Church voiced their complaints during the 1930s about the fact that Jews were being
baptised by German Protestant clergyman, citing that it was a “blow in the face” for anyone who
belonged to the National Socialist Party. These sentiments were still held even when 28
conversion was on an individual basis, mostly because German Protestants believed that “the
instruction and conversion of Jews was irreconcilable with the new racial and political
dispensation in Germany.” 29
In one instance in July 1936 in Fehrbellin, a Jewish woman who had converted to
Christianity caused a local commotion when her children, who were of mixed blood (her
husband was Aryan) were allowed to sing in the Fehrbellin church choir. Dr. Harder, the pastor
of the church, announced the woman’s conversion one Sunday during the service, which caused
people to be critical of Harder’s politics. The issue of Christians of nonAryan descent 30
culminated in the gathering of the four German missionary societies of Berlin, Basel, Leipzig,
27
Clark, p. 291
28
Clark, p. 292
29
Clark, Christopher M. The Politics of Conversion: Missionary Protestantism and the Jews in Prussia,
17281941. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995. Print. ( p. 292).
30
Clark, p. 292
22. 21
and Cologne, in which the topic of forming separate congregations for racially Jewish Christians
and nonAryan Christians was addressed and opposed. The statement read: 31
“Accepting our relationship with the Jewish people as part of the History of Salvation
entails the full acknowledgement of the Jewish Christian within the space of the church.
According to scripture, every baptized [individual], including the Jewish Christian, is a
fully entitled member of the Church as [he is] of the body of Christ. There is no biblical
foundation for the formation of separate Jewish Christian congregations.” 32
The Leipzig missionary society disbanded in July 1935 after their financial support was
cut off, which left only the Berlin society. After the National Socialist Party came to power,
there was a significant increase of Jewish converts to Christianity within the Berlin missionary
society, from 5 converts in 1932, to 29 in 1933, 92 in 1934, and 50 in 1935. In Austria at the 33
same time, legislation was enacted which forbade the marriage of Jews to Christians without one
spouse first converting. An example of this occurred in Ernst Weihs’s family. Born in Vienna 34
in 1908 to fully Jewish parents, Ernst’s father returned from WWI and requested a divorce from
his wife to be with a Lutheran woman he had met during the war. Ernst’s father eventually
married this woman and converted to Lutheranism. His mother was now left to raise him by
herself, and when this became too much, she sent him to live with his father and his new wife.
Living under their roof, Ernst was told he must be baptized, at which point he mentioned, “I
didn’t have anything to do with being Jewish from that age on...I went to church.” After working
as a gardener for some years, he moved back to Vienna in 1928 where he found another job as a
gardener until 1938. Here, no one knew of his Jewish background. After a neighbor exposed his
identity, Ernst was evicted from his apartment and forced to wear the star. His mother wanted
31
Clark, p. 293
32
Clark, p. 293
33
Clark, pp. 294, 297
34
Lowenstein, Steven M. "Jewish Intermarriage and Conversion in Germany and Austria." Modern Judaism
25.1 (2005): 2361. Web. (p. 24).
23. 22
him to flee to Palestine, so Ernst registered for a Swedish mission which interviewed Jews to
send them to Sweden. A Jewish agency then helped him train and prepare to move to Palestine.
35
In 1942, Ernst was deported to a ghetto in Czechoslovakia, then put on a train to
Theresienstadt, and eventually transported to Auschwitz. Initially, he was able to stay with
people he knew from Vienna, but soon they were split up. In Auschwitz, Ernst recalled that the
Germans put some Polish Jews in charge of the barracks where he was staying, and that the
“Poles were worse than Germans.” He remembers marveling at the big, strong men who entered
the gates of Auschwitz who “died like flies.” In this environment, “as soon as you got sick, you
were done.” One of Ernst’s jobs was to take a twowheeler and pile the bodies up, drive them out
into the field, dig a large ditch, and bury them all in a mass grave. In spring 1945, they all had to
evacuate and were marched towards Dachau, which was liberated by the United States soon
after. 36
Ernst was then able to return to Vienna to his stepmother’s apartment. When asked how
it felt to be a Jew after the war, Ernst said that, “Nobody paid any attention anymorewe figured
we were Lutheran.” Ernst was able to immigrate to the United States after the war and move to
New York, where his mother and sister were waiting for him. Ernst was not forced to convert 37
for protection, but rather because his stepmother and father wanted him to convert. Though
Ernst did not talk about his religious practices later in life, he made it clear that he did not
35
Ernst Weihs Oral History Interview, May 30, 1989 by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504732.
36
Ernst Weihs
37
Ernst Weihs
24. 23
consider himself Jewish after the war. No comment was made about his religion at the time of
the interview. 38
Conclusion
It can be noted in these testimonies that in cases of intermarriage, conversion followed,
specifically in countries with laws on conversion. In Central Europe, one was required to
document any change in religious status; thus, if there was no official documentation regarding a
conversion, someone who was born Jewish remained Jewish in the eyes of the state. This is the
reason there is documentary proof of Jews who either converted to Christianity or who left the
Jewish faith altogether. In Germany, it became legal for Jews and Christians to marry by the end
of the nineteenth century; however, in Austria, conversion was necessary for Jews and Christians
to marry (either spouse). Thus, in this period, intermarriage and conversion in Austria are
related. 39
Similar to studying conversion for protection, measuring sincerity is again nearly
impossible. Individual cases make it easier to ascertain the motives and effects of conversion on
a specific person; however, when there are cases of a Jew marrying a Christian and converting to
Christianity, motives for the conversion are skewed by legislation. This is true about the
relationship of intermarriage and conversion in Austria, but not in Germany. It must also be
noted that in places like Germany where intermarriage was legal, and conversion still followed, it
is more likely that the conversion was sincere, or at least done for unity in the household, adding
another complication to measuring sincerity during this period in Jewish history.
38
Ernst Weihs
39
Lowenstein, Steven M. "Jewish Intermarriage and Conversion in Germany and Austria." Modern Judaism
25.1 (2005): 2361. Web. (p. 24).
25. 24
III. Religious Indifference
In contrast to those who converted, but still felt obligated to Judaism in some way, there
is another group of converts who felt no attachment to either Judaism or Christianity. Chaim
Kaplan recounted the situation of converts in the Warsaw ghetto in his diary. In some cases,
bribery occurred to issue false documents, “stating that Soand so is an Aryan from a long line of
Aryans” and that “these certificates are assumed to genuine, and no one disputes their veracity.”
Kaplan also notes that the priests issuing these false documents “made fortunes” and that those 40
trying to pass as Aryans “enjoyed all the rights to which the Aryan race entitles its offspring.” 41
Moreover, “they remained outside the ghetto area legally and were treated as genuine Aryans.” 42
Kaplan also mentions another group in the ghetto, Jews whose parents had converted and who
were brought up as Christians. These Jews, he writes, “don’t have the slightest feeling for 43
Judaism, either religiously or racially.” Kaplan recounts in his entry for March 7, 1941, that the 44
Nazis brought a group of these first generation converts to Adam Czerniakow to decide their
fate, while “huge crowds accompanied them to the gates of the Judenrat.” Showing his disdain 45
for these apostates, Kaplan writes, “I don’t know what their end will be, but one thing I know for
a certainty. Their enmity to Israel will never cease.” Kaplan’s beliefs about the converts cannot 46
be applied to every convert in the Warsaw ghetto; however, something can be said about the fact
that this was his first impression of the apostates he encountered. Though Kaplan’s account is a
40
Kaplan, Chaim Aron, and Abraham Isaac Katsh. Scroll of Agony; the Warsaw Diary of Chaim A. Kaplan.
New York: Macmillan, 1965. Print. ( p. 250, March 7, 1941 entry).
41
Kaplan, p. 250
42
Kaplan, p. 250
43
Kaplan, p. 250
44
Kaplan, p. 250
45
Kaplan, p. 250
46
Kaplan, Chaim Aron, and Abraham Isaac Katsh. Scroll of Agony; the Warsaw Diary of Chaim A. Kaplan.
New York: Macmillan, 1965. Print. ( p. 250, March 7, 1941 entry).
26. 25
general one, it nevertheless provides a look into the lives of a religious minority in the Warsaw
ghetto.
Though Paul Strassman was not deported to the Warsaw ghetto, his testimony falls under
the category of converts who, at the time of the interview, felt no attachment to their Jewish
heritage “either religiously or racially,” as Kaplan said. Paul was born in 1929 in Trencin, 47
Czechoslovakia, and his father had a very high up position in the AustroHungarian army. Paul
attended a Jewish elementary school and had a normal childhood during that time. In 1936, he
joined a youth organization that had very strong views about its role in Israel. He became
involved because his friends were involved. In the town of Trencin, there were about 14,000
people at the time that he was growing up, and of that number, only about 1,400 Jews. The other
youth organization was a very religious one, but Paul expressed that he was never interested in
religion, though his mother was very observant and his grandfather used to take him to
synagogue. Despite being a good scholar in regard to the Jewish texts, Paul and his father were
very liberal in their views of Judaism, which is why he wanted to stay away from the religious
organizations. 48
In 1938, Paul’s father felt that the political situation was getting worse, and they made a
decision to leave the country. Paul’s mother kept all the money that they were saving in a metal
box, but the week before they were all going to leave, she found that the box had fallen behind
the radiator and all the money had been charred and was no longer usable. Disheartened and
disillusioned though he was, Paul’s father never uttered a word about it. After this incident the
family decided to stay where they were, citing the fact that there was not enough money and
47
Kaplan, p. 250
48
Paul Strassman Oral History Interview, July 11, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504717>.
27. 26
there were too many family members to worry about. Legislation in Czechoslovakia started in
1940, but it did not affect Paul’s family right away. His father was friends with two priests in the
community, and one of them promised his father that he would do everything in his power to
protect him because of his service to the community. Paul’s father received a presidential writ
which protected him from deportation, but it did not extend to the rest of his family. 49
By 1940 radios were taken away, and by 1941 telephones were also forbidden. It was at
this time that Jews were required to wear the star. Paul recalled traveling in groups with other
Jews for protection, and that books became “very precious.” His Jewish school dissolved in
1941, but he was able to have “very distinguished” private tutors. Deportations began in 1942,
and his father was advised that he could be further protected if he was baptized. Baptism meant
that he could be reclassified, and “it would look better.” When Paul’s father made the decision
to baptize the family in 1942, Paul had just had his bar mitzvah in January 1942. They could not
get baptized in the Catholic church, “because it would require the Archbishop dispensation”
which would have taken up to two years. In the Evangelical Protestant church, however, it would
only take eight months. Paul would simply have to go to school and learn catechisms before his
baptism. 50
If one was well connected, Paul explained, it was possible to find out the night before
whether or not your name was on the deportation list. In 1942 when the deportation started,
people just thought they were going from a bad situation to a worse situationlike a work camp.
People would ask the Judenrat what to take, such as pots and pans. There was no awareness of
the conditions of where they were going after deportation, and certainly not an awareness of the
49
Paul Strassman Oral History Interview, July 11, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504717>.
50
Paul Strassman
28. 27
gas chambers. Additionally, the idea of Jewish resistance was a “Utopian” idea, and Paul
considered it only for the extreme. Paul’s father used to take him and his siblings on long
twoday hikes out in the mountains as a way for them to escape the oppressiveness. The
antisemitism, Paul explained, was concentrated in the urban environments, and in the smaller
villages with less people, there was no antisemitism. 51
In terms of his religious convictions after his conversion, Paul said: “It turns out that the
Lutheran religion appeals to me more than the Jewish religion, because the Jewish religion is so
obscure and...so full of archaic rituals.” The Lutheran church in Slovakia in the 1940s was a
very modern forward thinking church. Paul explained that when “the Lutherans are a minority
they are very nice people.” By 1942, out of 1,400 Jews in Trencin, there were only about 150
Jews left. Relationships with the remaining Jews in their town did not change at all once they
were baptized. They were all very close because there was so few of them. 52
Starting in 1942 with the deportations, and after his baptism, Paul’s daily life was
relatively consistent: He would get up, go to his tutoring, to the gym, and to church on Sunday.
His sister found a job, his mother was at home, his grandparents on his father’s side were
protected. Except for the long hikes they would take on weekends, they were completely
invisible. In 1944, Paul’s family and the remaining Jews of Trencin, had to form a plan of action
regarding whether or not they needed to go into hiding or disperse the family. 53
In August 1944, Paul’s father was taken hostage along with eleven others by the Gestapo
for being involved with smuggling food. After his father’s arrest, Paul knew the Gestapo was
51
Paul Strassman Oral History Interview, July 11, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504717>.
52
Paul Strassman
53
Paul Strassman
29. 28
looking for him, but he was advised by his father the day before that he should sleep at a friend’s
house in order to disperse the family. Paul eventually found out that his father was subsequently
tortured and died in Sachsenhausen. Leaving Trencin, Paul headed for the mountains and swam
until he was out of the city. Finding a partisan group, he tried to join them; however, they turned
him away and gave him a hand grenade for protection. Paul then ran into another man who was
also looking to join the partisan group, so they set off to find them together. After finding the
partisans again, they told him that his job was not to fight the Germans, but to sabotage the
railroads. They also told him never to spend more than one night in the same town. Paul was
honorably discharged in April 1945 and then went to Paris and London. 54
After obtaining a visa, Paul was able to immigrate to the United States in October 1948.
His first stop was the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society to see if they could help him attend
college. The counselor finally said that he should go to Cooper Union in New York, and
everything would be paid for. Paul took the SAT, however his English was terrible at the time.
After being accepted to Cooper when someone backed out, Paul met his future wife there and
also received a scholarship to MIT. He refused to take the scholarship, because “the Strassman’s
don’t take charity from anyone,” and said that he would rather work his way through school.
Paul retired in 1985 after working with computers for thirty years. 55
Paul Strassman’s testimony is unique in that he was educated in both Judaism and
Christianity at an age where he could understand the differences between the two religions.
Being baptized after his bar mitzvah, he would have been educated enough in Jewish tradition to
make a decision about his beliefs. Additionally, he had private tutors and was schooled in the
54
Paul Strassman Oral History Interview, July 11, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504717>.
55
Paul Strassman
30. 29
Jewish texts (at least as much as a thirteen year old boy can be). Even prior to his conversion,
however, Paul stayed away from religious youth organizations. He was likely torn between the
religious views of his mother and grandfather, and the liberal, more secular views of his father.
Although he went to synagogue before his conversion and to church after his conversion, going
to church was most likely an additional form of protection for him and his family. Paul’s feelings
about Judaism being “an archaic religion” distance him from those that fall neatly into the
category of converts who felt an attachment to their Jewish heritage. Paul seems not only
unattached, but belligerent towards Judaism. While his high level of education is certainly
impressive, it may or may not have had anything to do with his views on religion as an adult.
Born in the same city as Paul Strassman in 1938, Paul Kovac’s parents had him converted
to Roman Catholicism shortly after he was born. His father held an “indispensable” position at a
local agricultural college, which meant the entire family was exempt from wearing the have to
wear the star. Paul was not brought up in a religious way, because his family was not observant
or religious. After the war, however, he attended religious classes with other children at a Roman
Catholic school. In late August 1944 there was a national uprising in Slovakia, and Paul’s father
was notified that he should leave the school and the city. In response, his father stole a horse and
a cart and the family escaped to a friend’s house to hide. This farmer had other friends and they
ended up going to those people, who lived in a small village. They stayed in hiding until 1945, at
which point they moved to Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. 56
Even after the war, Paul’s family never belonged to any sort of congregation, because
they did not want to be conspicuous. In addition, he did not “seem to recall anybody of the
56
Paul Kovac Oral History Interview, March 26, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504611>.
31. 30
family [ever] going to a synagogue.” Paul did not experience antisemitism until he was out of
school. “ I didn’t advertise for myself as being Jewish...but everybody finds out about you...they
let you know that you are different.” Paul got married in 1962, but he pointed out without
prompting that it was a civil ceremony, and not a religious one. He also added that he and his
wife brought up their son in a nonreligious way. “We have never emphasized religion.” Since
Paul’s family was not religious, it makes sense that Paul did not want to raise his son in a
religious way either; however, the antisemitism he experienced later in life could have been a
factor which solidified his disinterest in religion. 57
Like Paul Kovac, Elizabeth Goldsmith’s family was Jewish, but not observant. She was
born in Hungary in 1918, during a time in which most Jews were also getting baptized in order to
keep their jobs or attend college. Her father was baptized in 1919. Since Elizabeth was raised 58
Presbyterian and attended a Presbyterian high school, she also attended church. When her
brothers began to make fun of her, she became selfconscious, and soon “grew out of religious
things.” Her family celebrated Christmas, never went to synagogue, and for the most part, “lived
without religion.” On life before the war, Elizabeth said: “We lived a very comfortable life. We
went to the theater, we entertained, [and] we worked a lot.” When Hitler invaded Hungary,
however, Elizabeth’s family was regarded as Jews under the law. The Jews of Hungary were
taken aback when what was happening in Germany began to happen to them as well, especially
since they regarded themselves as being more Hungarian than Jewish. In Hungary, if one had
close ties with Christians, whether through marriage or otherwise, it generally improved one’s
57
Paul Kovac Oral History Interview, March 26, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504611>.
58
Nagy, Péter Tibor. "The Sociology of Survival: The Presence of the Budapest Jewish Population Groups
of 1941 in the 1945 Budapest Population." The Holocaust in Hungary: Seventy Years Later. Ed. Randolph
L. Braham and András Kovács. Budapest; New York: Central European UP, 2016. 18394. Web. (p. 190)
32. 31
chance of surviving. In fact, research shows that “having a Christian spouse increased an
individual’s chances of survival by a factor of 1.9. In the case of Elizabeth’s family, her father’s
conversion did little to protect them, as Elizabeth and her sister were deported to a labor camp in
1944. 59
Conclusion
Each person in this section was raised in a different religious context; however, based on
the information provided in their interviews, they all ended up becoming indifferent to religion,
or at least never formed an attachment to Judaism. Paul Strassman was the only one who had any
sort of Jewish education as a child. In fact, he regarded himself as somewhat of a scholar in
Jewish religious texts. His conversion happened when he was thirteen years old, just after his bar
mitzvah. Up until this point in his life, Paul had already decided that he was not interested in
Judaism, and avoided joining any religious youth organizations. As an adult, Paul felt more of an
attachment to Lutheranism and regarded Judaism as an “archaic” religion. Similarly, Paul 60
Kovac, whose family was not observant and never went to synagogue, attended Roman Catholic
classes after the war, but ran from religion as an adult. Telling of his strong feelings on the
subject, Paul made sure to touch upon the fact that his marriage was a civil ceremony, not
religious, and that because of his childhood experiences, he wanted to make sure that his son was
raised without religion. Though Paul did not get into the details of why he did feel attached to
Judaism or Roman Catholicism, it is interesting to note that he offered this information without
being asked about the topic of religion. Elizabeth Goldsmith, whose family “lived without
59
Elizabeth Goldsmith Oral History Interview, January 5, 1991. By The Australian Institute of Holocaust
Studies, The Twelfth Hour Project.< http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn43227>.
60
Paul Strassman Oral History Interview, July 11, 1990, by Linda Kuzmack.
<http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn504717>.
33. 32
religion,” but was raised Presbyterian, “grew out of religious things.” It is not clear what 61
happened in her life between the time of her father’s baptism, her Presbyterian high school
experience, and her brothers making fun of her for going to church that contributed to her
religious indifference; however, Elizabeth’s life is another example of converts with a religious
background who walked away from Judaism for one reason or another.
When trying to ascertain sincerity in conversion of people who, at least at the time of the
interview, were indifferent to their Jewish heritage, it must be taken into account that the
conversions were not their choice, especially if their parents converted prior to their birth. In this
way, measuring sincerity again becomes impossible. What can be studied, however, are the
factors which contributed to their religious indifference. Amount of Jewish education, age of
conversion, degree of religious observance, influence of family members, and intermarriage all
likely influenced the feelings of the convert toward religion, especially Judaism. There is one
component which has not been touched upon. If these same conversions had occurred in a
different time period, they would be slightly less complicated to study; however, they occurred
during the most traumatic time in Jewish history. Adding in this missing factor, sincere
conversion becomes increasingly more complicated to ascertain. Moreover, converts’ feelings
toward religion in general could have been shattered by the trauma of the Holocaust. Many
questioned their faith and even the very existence of God. This missing link, then, is the most
important thing to consider when studying converts who became indifferent to religion.
IV. Sincere Conversion
61
Elizabeth Goldsmith
34. 33
The final category of conversions that must be addressed are those that, even if done for
protection, were sincere. What was previously difficult in ascertaining the sincerity of
conversions was not only the lack of personal information regarding their religious convictions,
but the fact that most converts adopted Christianity as their religion only in name, still feeling
more of a connection to Judaism. There is, however, more evidence to work with when there are
quotes from converts that shed light on the process they went through during and after their
conversions. The following stories of conversion are easier to identify as sincere because of the
confirmation of their religious convictions through personal testimony. If not for this firsthand
information, it would be near impossible to indicate whether or not conversion was done for
other reasons. Even within these sincere conversions, it is still possible that initially, the
conversion was performed for protection. It is also not out of the question, as seen in the
following testimonies, for converts to have a spiritual transformation after a conversion that was
only done for protection.
Conversion laws, like intermarriage laws, varied by country. In Romania, the government
banned Jewish conversion on March 18, 1941, citing that:
“The ethnic being of our People must be preserved from dilution by Jewish blood. Until
now the Jews have been able to hide their ethnic origin by converting to our national
religions. In order to prevent such a crime against our national community, it is necessary
to modify Article 44 of the Law on Religions, forbidding Jews to convert to any other
religion.” 62
Other laws such as this one were passed in the late 1930s in Romania in order to slowly remove
Jews from the public sphere, and single them out in every possible way. During the summer of
62
Popa, I. "Sanctuary from the Holocaust? Roman Catholic Conversion of Jews in Bucharest, Romania,
1942." Holocaust and Genocide Studies 29.1 (2015): 3956. Web. (p. 39).
35. 34
1942, with rumored deportation hanging over their heads, many Jews converted to Catholicism.
In August, plans were announced by the Romanian authorities that all Jews were to be deported.
Between August 9, 1940 and May 20, 1942, 1,311 people converted to Christianity. In a Cabinet
meeting of the Romanian government in April. 1942, it was decided that Romanian Jews who
had converted to Christianity would “not be deported yet, for reasons of political
opportuneness.” The plans which had been negotiated in the summer of 1942 to deport the 63
remaining Romanian Jews to Belzec had been derailed by October, because of the Romanian
government’s mistrust of Hitler. 64
The first mention of Jewish converts to Catholicism in Bucharest, Romania was in a
document from the Police Prefecture dating August 8, 1942, which read: “On 15 August 1942
[the Catholics] will start the catechization [i.e., teaching of Church dogma preparatory to
conversion] of circa 800 Jews, of whom 250 are Hungarian Jews.” The Roman Catholic 65
Church in Bucharest shortened the time that converts were required to learn catechisms, from
100 days to 45 days, out of fear that the converts would be deported at any time. In February
1943, the ban on conversion of Jews was lifted, and the Roman Catholic Church was granted
permission to convert Jews. Following the March 1941 decree that forbade conversion, the
consequences were different for those who converted to Catholicism versus those who converted
to Protestant Christianity. Protestant converts were generally deported after breaking the law, but
Catholic converts were used as political leverage between Romania and the other Allied nations.
66
63
Popa, pp. 39, 40, 43
64
Popa, I. "Sanctuary from the Holocaust? Roman Catholic Conversion of Jews in Bucharest, Romania,
1942." Holocaust and Genocide Studies 29.1 (2015): 3956. Web.(p. 45).
65
Popa, p. 47
66
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