Laureen Nussbaum was born Hannelore Klein in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1927. The year before, Margot Frank had been born, also in Frankfurt, and in 1929 Margot’s sister Anne was born in the same city. The Kleins and the Franks knew each other in Frankfurt and resumed their friendship in Amsterdam, where both families sought refuge after the Nazis came to power in Germany. The girls shared many experiences: cheerful ones before the Netherlands was occupied by Hitler’s military; increasingly frightening ones thereafter. However, as the persecution of Jews in the Netherlands progressed, the two families suffered very different fates. Of the Franks only Anne’s father, Otto, survived the war, while the Kleins made it through intact. A major reason for this contrast was a German, Hans Calmeyer, a lawyer who in 1941 was appointed an official in the German Occupation government of the Netherlands. It was Calmeyer’s responsibility to determine whether people who were registered as Jews but claimed they were of Christian descent had a legitimate case. Time and again, Calmeyer decided in favor of the petitioners, which saved them from persecution and deportation. Among the families that he rescued in this way were the Kleins. For his crucial aid to thousands of Jews, Calmeyer, who died in 1972, was in 1992 declared “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

After the war, Laureen Nussbaum taught for many years at Portland State University. She also published extensively, focusing for two decades on literary works that had been written in the Netherlands by Jewish refugee authors, among them Anne Frank. Recently, as a tribute to the man who saved her and her family, she published a biography, Shedding Our Stars: The Story of Hans Calmeyer and How He Saved Thousands of Families Like Mine.

At the close of this event, autographed copies of Shedding Our Stars will be available for purchase.

[NOTE: Attendance at this event will be capped at 100 and will be limited to ticket-holders. Tickets will be free; order tickets here. Those who are unable to obtain tickets will have access to Laureen Nussbaum’s presentation via Zoom and like those who are in attendance they will have an opportunity to ask questions at the close of her talk. Provisions will also be made for them to purchase autographed copies of Shedding Our Stars (details TBA). Those who attend the event need not wear masks during the talk, but if they join the line to purchase copies of Shedding Our Stars, they are asked to put on masks as a courtesy, because of the close quarters.]

Free, open to all. Seating is limited. Advance tickets to attend in person are available at: https://beav.es/wRZ. Livestream option is available via YouTube.

Laureen Nussbaum
Survivor Talk: Laureen Nussbaum
Location: 
ON CAMPUS (Horizon Room 49, OSU Memorial Union) and STREAMED.
Event Date: 
Monday, May 2, 2022 - 19:00