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 le train de la liberté de Leica

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guitl

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MessageSujet: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 20:55

Cosmos, Ariella m'envoie un texte concernant leica -


Dès 1933, Ernst Leitz II aide des familles juives à quitter l'Allemagne. Il utilise les chemins de fer (The Leica Freedom train) pour sortir les ouvriers juifs de la firme sous couvert de les affecter à l'étranger dans ses bureaux en France, Grande-Bretagne, Hong-Kong ou les États-Unis. Les membres de la famille ou même des amis des ouvriers ont pu bénéficier de ce dispositif.

Ce système fonctionne surtout à plein en 1938 et au début de 1939, jusqu'à ce que l'Allemagne ferme ses frontières. Des centaines de juifs avaient pu profiter des trains de Leica. Un cadre dirigeant de l'époque, Alfred Turk, a été emprisonné pour avoir aidé des juifs et fut libéré après le paiement d'une somme d'argent.

le texte ci-dessus est copié sur wikipedia, toute l'histoire sur

http://www.cafaitdesordre.com/blog/?p=3466

il y a plus à savoir?

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adm-janine
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:12

mon premier patron au ministere etait tres fier de son appareil photo Leica
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:16

guitl a écrit:
Cosmos, Ariella m'envoie un texte concernant leica -

oui et...?
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adm-janine
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:19

charlelie couture a écrit une belle chanson sur ilan halimi


son frere c'est tom novembre, 2 de chez nous
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guitl

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:21

COSMOS a écrit:
guitl a écrit:
Cosmos, Ariella m'envoie un texte concernant leica -

oui et...?

il y a plus à savoir?

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:22

Non je me demandais pourquoi tu t´adressais particulièrement à moi? S´il y avait quelque chose à traduire ou autre...?
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guitl

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:29

COSMOS a écrit:
Non je me demandais pourquoi tu t´adressais particulièrement à moi? S´il y avait quelque chose à traduire ou autre...?

je suis quand même étonnée qu'on apprenne ça 70 ans après la Shoah - j'aimerai savoir s'il y a une raison. Sais-tu si en allemand tu peux trouver des explications?
ce n'est quand même pas rien comme histoire,ce type a fait preuve de courage, de beaucoup d'imagination, je pense qu'il serait souhaitable d'en savoir plus.
Par exemple, comment son action a été perçue en Allemagne ; ce n'est pas facile d'agir contre son pays.
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:32

en effet
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guitl

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 22:33

en bas de l'article ils disent que c'est par modestie.
Je ne trouve rien en français.
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeDim 16 Jan - 23:25

guitl a écrit:
je suis quand même étonnée qu'on apprenne ça 70 ans après la Shoah - j'aimerai savoir s'il y a une raison. Sais-tu si en allemand tu peux trouver des explications?
ce n'est quand même pas rien comme histoire,ce type a fait preuve de courage, de beaucoup d'imagination, je pense qu'il serait souhaitable d'en savoir plus.
Par exemple, comment son action a été perçue en Allemagne ; ce n'est pas facile d'agir contre son pays.

Moi je ne suis pas étonné vu que ca se sait bien avant 70 ans après la shoah. Mais quand on s´entête à ne voir tous les allemands que comme des criminels nazis potentiels, c´est plus difficile en effet à discerner.

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 8:52

COSMOS a écrit:
guitl a écrit:
je suis quand même étonnée qu'on apprenne ça 70 ans après la Shoah - j'aimerai savoir s'il y a une raison. Sais-tu si en allemand tu peux trouver des explications?
ce n'est quand même pas rien comme histoire,ce type a fait preuve de courage, de beaucoup d'imagination, je pense qu'il serait souhaitable d'en savoir plus.
Par exemple, comment son action a été perçue en Allemagne ; ce n'est pas facile d'agir contre son pays.

Moi je ne suis pas étonné vu que ca se sait bien avant 70 ans après la shoah. Mais quand on s´entête à ne voir tous les allemands que comme des criminels nazis potentiels, c´est plus difficile en effet à discerner.


ne crois pas, j'ai consulté maintes et maintes fois la liste des Justes parmi les Nations, le pourcentage de juifs morts pour chaque pays, la France se distingue pour le nombre de sauvés, la Belgique étant distancée d'une courte tête.
bien sur que ce sont des assassins. Ils ont tué 99,9% de ma famille, n'est resté de ma famille paternelle qu'un cousin et mon père - et deux tantes qui avaient fuit la Pologne dans les années 1930.
En fait seuls ont survécu ceux qui ont fuit, mon père est rentré d'Auschwitz, mais dans un état...moral et physique, absolument atroce ; mais les enfants s'habituent à tout.
De ma famille maternelle, des 8 soeurs, 4 qui elles aussi avaient fuit ; mes grand-parents, mes oncles, mes tantes, cousins, tous morts ; et le malheur c'est que moi j'ai des photos, récupérées ça et là ; je mets des visages sur les morts.
Pas sur tous les morts. Mais je connais l'histoire de beaucoup d'entre eux.
Et je sais que le peuple juif était destiné à mourir dans sa totalité.
c'est ce qui fait la spécificité de la Shoah - d'habitude, un juif qui devient chrétien ou musulman a la vie sauve, les arméniens hors de Turquie n'étaient pas poursuivi par les Jeunes Turcs, mais au sujet des Juifs, les allemands et leurs valets autrichiens avaient décidé que les Juifs seraient traqués dans le monde entier. Qu'un quart de sang juif faisait d'un individu un juif, une personne sans droits, qui devait mourir après avoir servi si possible physiquement la grande allemagne, dont les cheveux servaient pour les sous-marins, l'or des dents pour enrichir l'effort de guerre.
Pour le savon, on n'a aucune preuve je crois.

Alors je pense que tout ce qui peut amoindrir l'horreur est bon, parce que nous devons construire l'Europe. Moi, je mourrai avec ma haine, mais je refuse qu'elle devienne l'héritage de nos enfants.
Dans la tradition juive, si on se souvient d'Amalech, c'est seulement afin que nous soyons prévenus que le mal est dans chacun des humains et que nous devons nous en méfier.
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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 9:00

Que veux tu que je te dise?
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Bernard063

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 9:02

Voici un autre lien : http://www.jlturbet.net/article-5685804.html
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Bernard063

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 9:18

encore d'autres, en Anglais :
http://www.suite101.com/content/leitz-family-historian-rabbi-frank-dabba-smith-a161165

http://arts.jrank.org/pages/10896/Ernst-Leitz-Sr-(1843%E2%80%931920)-Jr.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/126992.html

http://www.kazantoday.com/WeeklyArticles/ernst-leitz.html

http://www.imageusa.com/index.php/community-articles/136-focus-on/862-the-leica-freedom-train.html

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berghahn/ejud/2007/00000040/00000001/art00002

Extrait de Wikipedia : "Seconde Guerre mondiale : une notoriété assise[modifier]
Dès 1933, Ernst Leitz II aide des familles juives à quitter l'Allemagne. Il utilise les chemins de fer (The Leica Freedom train) pour sortir les ouvriers juifs de la firme sous couvert de les affecter à l'étranger dans ses bureaux en France, Grande-Bretagne, Hong-Kong ou les États-Unis. Les membres de la famille ou même des amis des ouvriers ont pu bénéficier de ce dispositif.

Ce système fonctionne surtout à plein en 1938 et au début de 1939, jusqu'à ce que l'Allemagne ferme ses frontières. Des centaines de juifs avaient pu profiter des trains de Leica. Un cadre dirigeant de l'époque, Alfred Turk, a été emprisonné pour avoir aidé des juifs et fut libéré après le paiement d'une somme d'argent[5]"




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Bernard063

Bernard063


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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 9:19

Behind this 'whiter than white' Leica corporate image, however, there lay another reality: the top management at Leitz was systematically saving Jews. Activities enabling Jews to emigrate began shortly after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and intensified after the nationwide 'Kristallnacht' pogrom of 9-10 November 1938. With Germany's invasion of Poland and the sealing of her borders in August 1939, these activities largely came to an end. [7]
During the early years of the Nazi regime, the German policy of forced emigration and the Jewish interest in escaping persecution did coincide. Before the peaceful conquest of Austria in 1938, approximately 150,000 Jews Ñaround one-quarter of the population of Jews in GermanyÑ had left the Reich. But, by
July of 1938, when representatives of international relief agencies sought help from the emissaries from over thirty governments at the Evian Conference, there were very few places left for asylum seekers to go. At this gathering, which was a symbolic gesture urged by President Roosevelt, profound sympathies were routinely expressed by all but there was to be very little in the way of positive action.
Within days of the Nazis assumption of power in Germany, however, the Leitz organisation responded to the pleas of Jewish people. One early example is that of Nathan Rosenthal (born 1881 in Wetzlar) who had served with Dr Ernst Leitz II on the local board of the Deutsche Demokratische Partei (DDP) later known as the Deutsche Staatspartei (DSP). Dr Leitz had also served on the town council from 1916-33 and publicly opposed the Nazi party. In a letter to Dr Leitz dated 10 February 1947, Rosenthal recalls with gratitude how:
...when I pleaded my plight to you fourteen days after Hitler's rise to
power, when my son Paul, who was in the upper fifth of the high school
and who could no longer shield himself from the anti-Semitism of his
teacher, and you immediately accepted him into your firm without taking
into account the political [consequences]. His training with you and
later employment in your firm here [in New York] made a way for us to
emigrate which would otherwise have been completely impossible.
Rosenthal's seventeen year old son, Paul, was first interviewed by Dr Henri Dumur (Direktor) and Alfred Turk (Verkaufsleiter) and then offered a contract as an apprentice. Paul Rosenthal was placed into a three year sales training programme, supervised by Dr Hugo Freund (Leiter der Verkaufsabteilung) that included a lengthy course in mechanics so as to give him a strong practical background.
Upon completing this training in 1936, Paul Rosenthal asked if he could be recommended for employment at the Leitz agency in New York. Rosenthal was supplied with a letter of introduction and gained a position in the scientific instrument division at the firm's New York office. In addition to providing an immediate career prospect to a vulnerable young man, Leitz also rented warehouse space from the elder Rosenthal, after he was forced to close his own business of fifty years standing, thus providing a Jewish family with an indispensable source of income.
Another example of a young Jewish person helped by the Leitz organisation is Kurt Rosenberg (1918-44). According to apprenticeship documents, he completed four years of training at Leitz in Wetzlar to become a feinmechanik, between 4 April 1933 and 4 April 1937. Rosenberg received compliments and pay increases as he progressed with his training. At the end of January 1938, Rosenberg emigrated to the United States and Leitz paid all expenses. Once arriving in America, he worked repairing cameras for Leitz and was even awarded a patent for inventing a close-up attachment. Sadly, after joining the United States Army, Rosenberg was among those killed on 20 April 1944 when the troopship ÔPaul HamiltonÕ was sunk in the Mediterranean.
According to Norman Lipton, a Leitz employee in New York and an eyewitness to the arrival of 'Leitz refugees', these individuals also included: [7]
The New York photographer, Julius Huisgen [who] was a Catholic with a
[partly] Jewish wife [whom the Nazis regarded as racially Jewish], who
had been employed at the Wetzlar factory and had volunteered for
transfer [overseas] to keep his wife out of danger. He had a long
career after the war as a Leica salesman in Pennsylvania.
Dagwood [originally 'Dagelbert'] Horn, a Leica dealer in Wetzlar [or,
possibly, Wiesbaden?] was 'adopted' as a Leitz employee and sent on to
New York, where the Leitz firm set him up as a Leica dealer on Fifth
Avenue, one block south of the Empire State Building. Any customer who
came to the Leitz showroom, [part of the company's offices located on
730 Fifth Avenue] and decided to purchase equipment, was referred to
Horn's shop.
It is not clear to what extent Horn was ÔadoptedÕ as a Leitz dealer in the United States. Within the highly competitive marketplace in Manhattan, the practice of a manufacturer referring customers to only one retail outlet would seem doubtful. In fact, Norman Lipton, who was periodically assigned to the agency showroom, recognised this to be a potential issue when he was specifically directed to make such referrals by the showroom manager, George Moran. When Lipton mentioned his concerns to his boss, Augustus Wolfman, he was told that ' ...Horn had been a Wetzlar dealer and that Leitz had been responsible for his setting up shop [italics mine] in New York.[8] It would be fascinating, indeed, to learn if Horn was assisted financially by Leitz in any
way exceptional, e.g.: special credit terms for the merchandise that he held in stock or credits received for equipment repurchased by Leitz in Germany.
Even if Leitz supported Jewish refugees merely by supplying letters of reference, this alone constituted a potentially dangerous activity. On one occasion, such a letter supplied by Leitz to a Frankfurt camera dealer relocating to the United States held grave consequences for Alfred Turk, Verkaufsleiter at Leitz.
In August 1938, a photographic dealer based in Frankfurt was advised by Ernst Leitz II, Henri Dumur and Alfred Turk on how he could liquidate his business and re-esablish himself profitably in the United States. Unfortunately, on 9 November 1938, during the events of 'Kristallnacht', the man's shop was looted and destroyed. Both he and his brother were incarcerated at Buchenwald, but then the Nazis released him on 21 November as he had an appointment with the United States Consul in Stuttgart to have his visa application processed. [9]
On 30 December 1938, just prior to his leaving Germany, the photo dealer received a letter of recommendation from Leitz addressed to the New York office asking that assistance be offered to him after his arrival. The man learned just after he had left Germany, however, that a copy of this letter, signed by Ernst Leitz II, had fallen into the hands of the Gestapo. As a result, Alfred Turk had been jailed on 27 January 1939 and then released after three weeks only because of an arrangement whereby he was to be retired immediately from his duties at Leitz.
In his postwar letter of 10 February 1948 to Ernst Leitz II, Nathan Rosenthal hints that the aid provided to Jews by Leitz reached well beyond the ranks of employees and dealers. 'How many innumerable young Jewish people from Glessen, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, etc., did you train in your photo business during the Hitler period in order that they were able to earn a living on emigration without taking into account whether your assistance pleased the Nazis or not?'
Norman Lipton's eyewitness testimony also points to an image of Leitz responding actively to help Jews leave Germany: [10]
I observed [the absorption of refugees] in action soon after I was
hired by the New York office of Leitz on May 18 1938. On alternate
weeks, I witnessed the arrival and processing of 30 or more
Leitz-sponsored refugees who were lined up along the wall of our office
waiting to be interviewed by Alfred Boch, Executive Vice President...
Boch put them up at the nearby Great Northern Hotel and spent the
succeeding days on the telephone finding jobs for them throughout New
York and the nation.
The efforts that Leitz extended to resettling of refugees at its 'absorption centre' in New York did not go unnoticed by American Jewish self-help organisation. Unequivocal gratitude is expressed in a letter written to Alfred Boch by Nell Mann, Employment Supervisor, Greater New York Coordinating Committee for German [Jewish] Refugees: [11]
We wish to convey this expression of appreciation on the part of our
Committee for your generous contribution to our work of rehabilitating
German refugees. We know that you will be glad to hear that the two
young men you re-trained in American methods of photo finishing were
placed most constructively... These individuals could not have qualified
for the positions which came into our office without this preliminary
period of instruction.
In the late 1930s, New York was the centre of what can only be described as a miniature camera 'boom' in America. Picture-led magazines such as Life, Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post were dominated by the work of photographers using the Leica. Kodachrome colour transparency film Ñavailable only in the 35mm miniature camera formatÑ was a sensation after its introduction in 1936-37. The biggest single market for sales of Leitz cameras and scientific instruments was now the United States.
It is not difficult to imagine that Leitz-sponsored refugees were well placed to succeed within this rapidly expanding economic sector. Whether it was in retail sales, marketing, distribution, teaching, repairing, photo finishing, or manufacturing, skilled personnel were needed all over the United States. Those trained in various aspects of the Leica and its already vast system of interchangeable lenses and accessories arrived at America's shores at a time of great opportunity.
Alfred Boch, who spearheaded the absorption operation in New York, had himself once been a refugee. [12] Boch, a Protestant, was born in Wilno in 1904. During the First World War, he and his family were imprisoned in Siberia. After the War, they returned home to Wilno but decided to flee when war broke out between Russia and Poland in 1919. Together with his brother, Karl, Boch reached relatives in Wetzlar after escaping through Lithuania to the German border. After his arrival in Wetzlar he gained employment at Leitz as an apprentice mechanic. In addition to his commercial astuteness, Boch's own personal history gave him the sense of urgency when it came to the plight of the refugees from Germany.
But, what about the senior management at Leitz in Wetzlar? Other than sensing a good opportunity for exporting useful personnel overseas, what other factors might have motivated them to enable Jews to flee persecution on a systematic basis? Might Ernst Leitz II (1871-1956), for example, have been guided by principles other than purely 'pragmatic self-interest'?
The Leitz family had long been known for its positive paternal outlook towards employees. Since 1869, under the direction of Ernst Leitz I (1843-1920), the
company had become one of the world's major makers of microscope and scientific instruments.
As early as 1885, a company health insurance scheme was made available to workers and their families. In 1899, there was a pension scheme and company funds available for workers to build homes. In the prosperous town of Wetzlar there had also been instituted an unemployment insurance scheme for industrial workers in 1888. These workers' benefits were, however, broadly in accordance with the state social provisions introduced by Bismark. To be sure, the aim was for a healthier and more stable workforce. In this age of rapid industrial growth, illness represented a threat to production.
During the period of strong industrial growth in Germany in the late nineteenth century, skilled engineers were in great demand. According to sixty-year Leitz employee Emil Keller, retaining this talent was important for an industrial enterprise of this period: [13]
Beginning with the end of the last century, Leitz attracted engineering
talent from all over Germany. We would call them mechanical engineers
today, but they themselves preferred to be simply called 'mechanics'.
They were widely traveled, rugged individualists with a bent for
practical solutions to new mechanical problems. They were high salaried
employees to whom the relationship with management was most important.
Ernst Leitz I hired most of these men personally. [His son] Ernst Leitz
II was particularly adept at maintaining a cordial relationship with
them. In fact, he knew almost all of his employees by their first names
and this cordiality was freely reciprocated, resulting in a strong
interdependence between them and the administration. 'Du kannst mich gar
nicht reize, mein Vater ist bei Leitze', school kids would respond to
one who might make a deprecating remark about the other's father. ('You
can't get me into fights, my dad works for Mister Leitz.')
The post World War I period leading up to the introduction of the Leica camera was particularly difficult. Most traumatic was the runaway inflation during the period 1923-24. In order to ameliorate the effects of this inflation in Wetzlar, Ernst Leitz II announced on 9 November 1923 to his employees a programme in which :[14]
...a part of their wages would be paid in paper credit printed and signed
by the firm in order to allow its workers to purchase groceries in the
appropriate shops at pre-determined prices, but these prices would be
subject to change, and these changes would be listed in future
announcements. What Leitz had done was to import foodstuffs from
Denmark with foreign exchange, earned through export sales, and then
truck the food to Wetzlar for distribution through designated merchants.
It was during this unstable period that Ernst Leitz II decided to launch the Leica camera at the spring 1925 Leipzig Fair. Here was a new product clearly designed for an international market. Fortunately, this miniature camera, the brainchild of Oskar Barnack, one of Leitz's most brilliant engineers, rapidly took the world by storm with sales rising from 857 units in 1925 to 19,895 units in 1930. As sales of microscopes and scientific equipment had fallen, the continued employment of 1500 workers and the future of the company had been at stake.
So, it is quite plausible that not only did the Leitz refugee programme make sound economic sense at the end of the 1930s, but, also, these actions reflected
long held company traditions of behaving humanely towards a highly valued work force. The refugee activities were conducted with the involvement of the very highest management personnel including Dr Ernst Leitz II and Dr Henri Dumur (1885-1977). Dumur, for example, was a cousin of Ernst Leitz II and a company director for many years. He was also a Swiss citizen and, apparently, a man of formidable intellectual and linguistic abilities not to mention possessing considerable panache when it came to negotiating with Nazi bureaucrats during the war: [15]
In his office, behind his desk, there was a large picture of the
Prussian King 'Frederick the Great', for all to see when they came in.
When representatives of the N.S.D.A.P. (National Sozialistische
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) called on him to make demands on Leitz in which
in Dumur's opinion couldn't be fulfilled or were contrary to company
policy, he would refer his visitors to the picture and say: 'I am
quoting from what Frederick the Great said 200 years ago: "we were not
born in chains and we cannot live in chains either".' That almost
always ended the conversation and the subject matter was decided in
Leitz's favour. Dumur would later turn to his assistant, after the
visitors were gone, and say: 'Das hat der alte Fritz nie gesag!' (ÔOld
Fritz never said that.')
Dr Henri Dumur was to play a key role in negotiating with the American Occupation Authorities and guiding the way for the company to get back on its feet rapidly. During the period of 19-26 November 1946, Dumur assisted investigators from the British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee in their inquiries concerning 'the methods of manufacture and constructional details of the Leica Camera with particular reference to finish, assembling and testingÕ. [16]
With regard to the Leitz labour force, the British investigators concluded that sound labour practices made for the Leica camera still being 'worthy of its pre-eminent position': [17]
The Leitz factory is a well-run, happy organisation, this being due in
no small measure to the family nature of the business and to its
importance in the neighbourhood. Discipline is strict without being
severe and one gets the impression of great interest by employees of
every grade in the work being performed.
This pride in workmanship and the just pride all have in their
world-wide reputation for quality work is the permeating spirit of the
place and helps greatly to offset apathy caused by the present dismal
state of the country.
This 'well-run, happy organisation' rapidly gained its post-war footing through excellent productivity and the introduction of extraordinarily successful innovations such as the Leica M-3 camera and the Summicron lenses.
The wartime activities of Ernst Leitz II's daughter, Dr Elsie KŸhn-Leitz (1903-85), however, point towards another facet of the concern for the welfare of Jews and other victims of Nazism. In a written testimony completed in 1946, she details the emotional and physical suffering that she witnessed among female forced labourers (Zwangsarbeiter) and how she sought to improve their living conditions. [18]
As Leitz was supplying equipment to the military and had lost a great number of workers to the war, approximately 700-800 Ukrainian women were attached to the factory as forced labourers beginning in 1942. [19] Elsie KŸhn-Leitz's efforts to better the living conditions of these Ukrainian women included: improving their food, obtaining clothing and radios (!), setting up a sewing room and organising a schedule so the workers could bathe regularly. Elsie KŸhn-Leitz's frequent visits to the camp housing these women aroused the suspicions of the Gestapo.
According to KŸhn-Leitz, in May 1943, there was renewed persecution against Jews Ñat this point those in mixed marriages especiallyÑ in the Hessen-Nassau district. She was approached by Julie Gerke, who sought help for another woman, Hedwig Palm, a member of a Wetzlar family that was well known locally for making eyeglasses. KŸhn-Leitz helped them to flee to her aunt in Munich and, after some time, the two women attempted to escape to Switzerland but unfortunately they were caught as they were searching for the place where they intended to cross the border.
Elsie KŸhn-Leitz was implicated and arrested by the Gestapo. From 10 September to 28 November 1943 she was imprisoned by the Gestapo in Frankfurt. The cost to her physical and emotional health was considerable and it was only through the payment of a massive ÔransomÕ by her father (negotiated by Dr Willi Hof, a prominent advocate of the autobahn and family friend) that she was released. Months of medical care were required to heal her head injuries. After her release KŸhn-Leitz was subjected to regular harassment by the Gestapo until the end of the war.
It is with the testimony of Elsie KŸhn-Leitz that an image emerges of a humane and altruistic personality.[20] She was very concerned with improving the day to day conditions of forced labourers. She voluntarily assisted the attempted escape of a Jewish woman without seeking any reward for herself. Even while imprisoned by the Gestapo, she took an active interest in the welfare of Jewish and non-Jewish inmates and shared the care packages that she received from her family. Elsie KŸhn-Leitz had much to lose: a privileged existence consisting of wealth, high social position, a university education and motherhood.
When Norman C. Lipton approached Ernst Leitz II's youngest son, Gunther (1915-69) with whom he was well acquainted, about his desire to write the story of the 'underground railway out of Germany' for Reader's Digest, he was told 'absolutely not': [21]
Gunther, who was usually very soft spoken, almost lost his temper. 'Not
while I'm alive,' he practically shouted. 'My father did what he did
because he felt responsible for his employees and their families and
also for our neighbours. He was able to act because the government
needed our factory's military output. No one can ever know what other
Germans had done for the persecuted within the limits of their ability.'
Gunther Leitz's refusal in 1967 to have the story published during his lifetime could well have been the result of an innate modesty about his family's actions. For him, there was no heroism involved. Helping Jews in the way that was done was what any decent human being would have done, given the opportunity.
Given the overall history of how photography was employed by Nazis during the Holocaust, it is certainly remarkable to learn of the rescue activities engaged in by one of the most celebrated camera manufacturing firms in Germany.[22] Not only did the saving of Jews by Leitz make good long-term pragmatic sense, but,
the apparently selfless actions and words of the Leitz family strongly suggest altruistic motivations. This story of humaneness deserves considerably more research. [23]
Notes
-----
http://www.aquamarinefund.net/archives/fdsmithleitz02.pdf
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Date d'inscription : 20/11/2006

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MessageSujet: Re: le train de la liberté de Leica   le train de la liberté de Leica Icon_minitimeLun 17 Jan - 9:53

COSMOS a écrit:
Que veux tu que je te dise?

rien. Prier pour que la haine n'envahisse pas l'Europe, voyager sans crainte est un vrai plaisir.

Bernard, les textes concernant cette personne existent peu en français ; alors qu'en fait, c'est entre la France et l'Allemagne que les guerres ont été les plus dures, les plus sévères, parce qu'elles avaient lieu sur notre sol.
Je pense que sans oublier l'horreur, il faut toujours rappeler ce qui s'est passé, il ne faut pas non plus oublier les petites lumières qui ont essayé d'éclairer les ténèbres. C'est le seul hommage que nous leur devons.
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