Gerda Weissmann Klein, Honored Holocaust Survivor, Dies at 97

Then, she heard a sound. She weighed only 68 pounds and her hair was white from malnutrition. She slowly made her way to the door. She could see a vehicle approaching from across a hill. As the vehicle approached, she saw two men sitting in front of her, and the giant white star from the United States Army on its hood.

One of the men approached her and pulled up in the jeep. He asked her if she knew German. She nodded, then said: “We are Jewish, you know.”

The man, looking healthy and full of energy, was still silent. He finally said: “I am too.”

He asked her if they could see each other. “ladies,”Gerda was unfamiliar with a formal German address. Then he opened the door.

“That was the moment of restoration of humanity,”She spoke.

The soldier’s name was Kurt Klein. He was born in Waldorf in Germany. His parents had sent him to America in 1937. They had promised to follow but only made it to France before being captured by the Nazis. Both of them died at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Gerda was able to recover and fell in love with Kurt. They were married in Paris, 1946. They then settled in Buffalo where he had previously lived and owned a printing firm.

Mrs. Klein wrote a memoir. “All but My Life,”In 1957, she wrote nine more books. Many of them dealt with her experiences during the Holocaust.

Kurt Klein and his wife moved to Phoenix after he retired. They established the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation in Phoenix, which promoted tolerance and Holocaust Remembrance through education and a virtually nonstop speaking schedule.