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 AUGSBURG- The Stories of Henry Landman (Heinz Landmann) and his connections to Augsburg, Germany.It was created for the Kristallnacht Shabbat program at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah - CBST on November 13, 2020. "An Evening With My Dad", by Rick Landman On February 5, 2015, Rick Landman told stories of Henry Landman, his father, as a way of showing tribute to Henry's life; and to start a new direction for Rick's storytelling. The event was captured by Assaf Astrinsky of CBST and is available on two separate YouTube clips that are embedded below. Each is about 30 minutes long. After the stories were told, Rabbi David Dunn Bauer and Rabbi Rachel Weiss participated in a memorial Kaddish minyan with those who showed up to be part of the event. "My thanks to all those who attended and who sent cards and gifts in my father's name." Rick Landman. |
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Obituary Even at 62 years of age, I thought I was exempt from losing a parent. My father, Henry Landman (born Heinz Landmann) survived Dachau, World War II and was still going strong at 94.5 years old. He was even invited to go back to Dachau for the 70th Anniversary of its Liberation in April 2015 since he was not only an inmate after Kristallnacht in 1938, but an American soldier when Dachau was liberated in 1945. Although not up to traveling, we were going to try to do something on Skype in April for their program. Coincidences and survival were always part of his life, but on December 29, 2014 he died. My dad was a kind and peaceful man, always sharing his sense of humor and wisdom of the ages. He had a varied Jewish background, which in large part encouraged him to understand and appreciate the diversities of people's lives. His maternal side was rural German Jews, while his paternal side were "Ost Juden" from Galacia. Gerson Landmann, his grandfather, was a Chasidic scholar that was able to migrate from the Pale with his 5 children to Munich, and did not have to come to America around the turn of the 20th Century like most of the "Fiddler on the Roof" Jews. As a result, Henry spoke not only his native German, but understood Yiddish. Gerson on the other hand lived in Munich without becoming fluent in German. Joseph, my father's father was the only one of Gerson and Sofie's children to survive the Holocaust. Gerson and Sofie died in Theresienstadt. My grandpa Joseph was naturalized as a German citizen and moved to Augsburg where Henry was born in 1920 as a German citizen. They all became stateless with the Nuremburg Laws in 1935. After being in Dachau after Kristallnacht Joseph was released to sign over the Jewish property to the Nazis and he was able to go to Stuttgart for a visa out of Germany since he was born on the Russian side of Galicia and was considered a Russian under the US quota system. Henry then got a temporary transit visa out of Germany to London and as an American infantry soldier he made his way to New York and then back to North Africa, Italy, France, Germany; and finally Munich, Dachau and Augsburg. His life experiences taught him to appreciate differences, hate violence and love his children unconditionally. In the 1960's when I first told him that I was gay, he was supportive. That was unheard of at the time, but it gave me the courage and support to become active in trying to show that there was nothing wrong with being gay in American culture; just as wrong as what they said about being Jewish in a Nazi world. My dad was my quiet role model. He was always there when I needed him, and his simple, unpretentious life made me who I am today. I didn't share in his love of sports, so I shared in his love of the non-Nazi Germany of his childhood. My dad held 2 Reunions for the Jews of Augsburg and stayed in touch with his German friends up until the end of his life. I will miss hearing all the stories of the Jewish aspects of Germany and the war, while the whole world lost a very special soul.  This is a photo of Henry Landman on December 3, 2014 playing cards with me. He was still beating me. The bump on his head was from playing tennis, when his opponent hit him with a ball.  This photo is when Henry and Lisa Landman came to CBST for the 2014 Kristallnacht program, and they were asked to light the Shabbat candles. You can usually right click on your mouse for an English translation. Story of how Henry Landman was the first American soldier to enter his hometown of Augsburg at the end of the war. Another article about Henry Landman. |
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ZASLAW TO MUNICH TO AUGSBURG TO NYC |
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This is a picture of Henry Landman during the war as an American soldier. It was part of the exhibit at the Jewish Heritage Museum at Battery Park City in New York City.  This is a picture of Henry Landman as a senior citizen dressed in his army uniform. It still fit. The uniform is now in a permanent exhibit in the Jewish Museum in Augsburg, since Henry was born in Augsburg and was with the first American soldiers to liberate Augsburg in 1945.  This is a photo of Henry Landman after he was released from Dachau. This photo was used for his Passport to leave Germany. Notice that his hair was beginning to grow back. HENRY LANDMAN (HEINZ LANDMANN): WAS AN 18 YEAR OLD JEWISH BOY FROM AUGSBURG WHO WAS SENT TO DACHAU ON "KRISTALLNACHT"; THEN RELEASED AND GETS TO LONDON AND THEN NEW YORK; WHERE HE BECOMES A U.S. SOLDIER IN THE THIRD INFANTRY WHICH LIBERATES DACHAU AND IS WITH THE FIRST AMERICAN SOLDIERS TO ENTER MUNICH AND AUGSBURG...  In May 2011 there was a joint program between the U.S. Military Museum in Saragota Springs and Dachau to commemmorate the Anniversary of the Liberation of Dachau. Henry Landman was invited but couldn't attend. I will post some of the Dachau exhibit further down the page.  This is a photo of Henry Landman's US Army Uniform in the Jewish Museum of Augsburg. Also in the display is the Lederhosen that he wore on the day that he was arrested and sent to Dachau. It was given back to him upon his release.  This is Henry as an adult trying on the lederhosen that we wore in 1938 when he was arrested and sent to Dachau. They returned the lederhosen when he was released. The lederhosen still fit him when he was in his 80's. This was before he packed them up and sent them to the Jewish Museum in Augsburg.    These are attempts at a long photograph taken in 1943 at Fort Wheeler Georgia with Henry Landman (see blue X) when he was at Basic Training to enter the war. I need to learn how to make a better image of this long photograph, so in the meantime I broke it into pieces. He had a hard time with American segregation against African-Americans down South at that time, because it reminded him so much of how Jews were treated in Germany when he left in 1939.   My father sent home his copy of the Passover Seder Menu from April 5, 1944 that they gave to the soldiers who survived the Anzio Beachhead. The photos were from something that he copied. I tried my best to not only translate the original, but to make some corrections [or additions]. The original German story is at: The Jewish Lederhosen
Henry Landman escaped the terror of the Nazis in 1939. He was able to save a piece of his childhood. |
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U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC for items relating to Henry Landman. |
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 The structure continued to stand, and was used as a warehouse for opera scenery during the war. The synagogue has been rebuilt and was rededicated in 1985.  This shows the interior of the Synagogue after the Rededication in 1985  This is the postcard that Henry Landman gave showing the interior pre 1938. Henry was Bar Mitzvah in this space and came back as an American Soldier in 1945 seeing it again, and again in 1985 at the Rededication. Here Henry is taking a picture of a fellow soldier in an army jeep in front of his former house in Augsburg on the day that the Americans entered the City. Henry was the first American soldier to enter his hometown of Augsburg that day. Here is where Henry met Arnold Metzger in Africa, a fellow Augsburger.  Here is where he met Walter Sturm in Rome, a fellow Augsburger. Henry in the winter of 1944-45.  Visa application number.  Money Order sent to Henry while in Dachau. Henry Landman and the Palestinian Brigade in Italy. Photo taken in Sorrento, Italy. Henry Landman and the Palestinian Brigade in Italy. Henry Landman and the Palestinian Brigade in Italy. Notice the Jewish star on the truck. Photo taken in Sorrento, Italy. Henry Landman and John C. Squires. The photo was taken right after the landing in Anzio Beach. Pfc. Squires received a Citation for the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict." Unfortunately, he was killed in the Anzio Breakout a few days after this picture was taken. This photo was used at the unveiling ceremony of a bronze statue of him in Kentucky. Towards the end of the war, my father's battalion liberated Dachau and my father was the first American soldier to enter his hometown of Augsburg Germany.  Henry Landman's citations.  Henry Landman's medals.  Henry Landman's badges for being both a veteran and Holocaust Survivor. It also shows the 5 cent ticket that the Army gave him when he returned from the war at the pier from the ship to return home. He kept it as a keepsake and paid for the token.  Henry Landman's portrait drawn overseas during the war.  Leopold Rieser was the attorney that was with Josef Landmann was arrested on the morning after Kristallnacht while they were walking to find out why the Gestapo took Henry. Leopold Rieser was beaten to death a few days later as he was leaving the bus and before entering Dachau. This is a picture of the Augsburg Synagogue taken right after the end of the war. The signs say Entry Forbidden for the general public, but also mentions a Jewish Service on Friday and Sunday. Henry Landman was in Salzburg at the time, but he received a pass to attend that first service in the synagogue after the war. The chaplain who led the service gave him an aliyah that day. His sister Irma (Landman) Avery was also in the military and served her country as a WAC (womens army corp). While my father was the first American soldier to enter Augsburg at the end of the War, the American army stayed in Augsburg for decades. The last American Soldiers to leave were CPT Don Wyler and Sergeant Wayne Box (Military Police) from 66th Military Intelligence. They went 1998 to Darmstadt, but are now probable situated in Wiesbaden, because the barracks in Darmstadt closed. I gave them my father's phone number in case they wanted to call him. |
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On Kristallnacht Josef and his 18 year old son Heinz were arrested for being Jewish and sent to Dachau. Since the town where Josef was born (Zaslav) in the 1890's was under Russian control, he was able to get a Visa to come to America as a "Russian living in Germany". The rest of family (siblings and parents)could not get visas and died in the Holocaust. Josef could then get his immediate family out of Germany in mid 1939. He received visas for his wife, son and two daughters. Minna Wolf (Regina's sister) lived with the Landmann family in Augsburg after her husband Gustav died of natural causes. Her daughter Auguste (Anne) was able to come eventually to America (Kindertransport child) and lived with the Landmans until she married Eric Weil. Minna Wolf was one of those Jews who was deported from Augsburg to her death in Auschwitz. We have learned that Sofie and Gerson Landmann were transported from Munich to their deaths in Theresienstadt. |
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Josef Landmann (born March 31, 1895 in Zaslaw, and died July 7, 1964) had three children with his wife Regina (born August 7, 1891 and died April 24, 1955). Henry (born June 12, 1920), who married Lisa (born April 6, 1927) had two sons Robert (born May 2, 1949) and Richard (born June 15, 1952). Robert married Bonnie (Phillips)(born February 18, 1950 and have three children, Jaimee (born July 5, 1975), Darra (born January 12, 1978) and Michael (born March 2, 1985). Joan (Hanni - was born December 30, 1921 and died August 9, 1970), was Joseph's oldest daughter who married Sol Weinstein and had one daughter named Lynn who married Peter Feller. His other daughter Irma (born June 20, 1923 and died January 13, 1985), married Guy Avery and had one daughter named Renie, who married John Cervone and has two twins named Jason and Eric. Heinrich Landmann who married Marie Kahn (who was related to the Waldmans) had three sons, Beno (who married Esther) and have Howard and Rita as their children, Stanley (who married Sadie) and Freddy Landman. Freddy who married Rose had no children, but Stanley had two children (Harris and Nancy) and Beno had a son named Howard. Rosa Landmann married Heinrich (Chaim) Rodoff and had 8 children. Three came to America (Max, Mia and Ruth) the rest died in the camps with Rosa and their father Heinrich Rodoff. Rosa and the youngest baby Bella died in Auschwitz and Chaim and the other sisters died in Riga-Kaiserwald. The other siblings's names were Bella, Jutta, Thea, Irma, and Eva. Max married Senta and had no children, and Mia died a few years after coming to America, and Ruth married Moe and had 3 children (Beth, Rachel and Helen). Paula Landmann married Isodore Frydmann and had four children who left Germany with the Kindertransport. Leo, married to Ruth, has three children,(David, Paul and Wendy) Heinz who married Sylvia and lives in Florida and has two children Judy and David, and Sigi who married Connie has two sons, Ken who married Liz and have a son Beau; and Michael who married Beverly and have three children Danny, Katie and Josh. The fourth child is Mia Heifler, who has three daughters Malcha, Penina and Rachel who now live in Israel. |
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Regina Landmann, the wife of Josef and mother of Henry, was born on August 7, 1891 and died in New York on April 25, 1955. Her father was Moses Gruenebaum and her mother was Johanna of Hellstein. Moses died while in a Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt during the war and Johanna died earlier of natural causes. The Gruenebaum Family lived for generations in Hellstein, and Moses was a kosher butcher in that town. Regina's other sister Else Aretz (born in Hellstein on June 19, 1896 and was picked up by the Nazis in Frankfurt from Grunestrasse 9, in Transport XII/3 on September 15, 1942 and died in the Theresienstadt on December 29, 1942), along with Else's husband Max and their two daughters Valerie (born on December 25, 1923) and Martha (born on December 1, 1924 in Hellstein and after Frankfurt was sent to Berlin-SW 68, Kommandantenstrasse 58 and was sent to Auschwitz on March 3, 1943). Jonas, her brother, survived and moved to America where his daughter Marian Samokow used t live. She had 2 sons. Mina Wolf, Regina's sister lived with the Landmann family with her daughter Auguste (Gusti or Anne) in Augsburg after her husband Gustav Wolf died of natural causes. Minna Wolf was born in Hellstein November 14, 1890; died in Auschwitz. Anne was able to come to America where she continued to live with the Landmans, but Minna could not. Anne married Eric Weil and had one daughter named Susan. Susan married Stuart Friedman and have two children, Jaci and Michael. It is purely coincidental but two sets of the family now have the last name of Frydman or Friedman. Regina was the only member of her family to survive and come to America, as was her husband Joseph, so also lost both of his parents and siblings. |
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This is the wedding picture of Josef and Regina Landmann taken in 1918 in Augsburg, Germany. [DIC] means "Died in Camps". The top row from left to right, shows Elsie Gruenebaum Aretz (sister of the bride) [DIC], unknown, Paula Landmann Frydmann (sister of groom) [DIC], Sigmund and Alfred Marx (cousin of bride), unknown. Standing in the middle: Waldman, Regina Gruenebaum (bride) and Josef Landmann (groom), Mina Gruenebaum Wolf (sister of bride) [DIC], unknown. Standing next to Josef is Moses Gruenebaum (father of bride), Marie [Lived until 99 yrs old] and Heinrich Landmann (Stanley and Freddy's and Beno's parents). Seated in front: Rosa Landmann Rodoff (sister of bride) [DIC], Jonas Hans Gruenebaum (brother of bride), Mr. Waldman, Beno Landmann, Sofie [DIC] and Gerson Landmann [DIC](parents of the groom). |
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This picture was taken in the 1920's in the Landmann home in Augsburg. Moses G is sitting next to his two daughters, Minna Wolf (who died in Auschwitz) and Regina Landmann and her husband Josef. Irma and Henry Landmann are sitting on the floor. Joan must have been away. This picture shows Josef and Regina Landmann with their 3 children, Henry, Irma and Joan. Irma is to the right. All survived the Holocaust and moved to New York in 1939. This was the photo that he showed the lawyer in London, who recognized Joseph as being the son of the two people who put his in-laws up in their apartment until their paperwork arrived years before Henry got to London.  This was the third and last apartment of the Landmann family on Hermannstrasse, just around the corner from the Synagogue.  This is a photograph of the Augsburg Synagogue from 1989. It was restored in 1985 (except for the missing Jewish Star at the roof of the building and the organ was not returned, but instead the congregation received funds for a new Menorah.)  This is a photo from 1989 with Henry eating his favorite food, namely a Dampfnudle; that was made by a friend of the Bachners. |
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This is the two family house of the Aretz-G family in Hellstein, Germany taken before the war. Only one of these people survived the Holocaust. We returned to Hellstein in 1989 and thought that this was the same house. But in 2002 I received an email from one of the inhabitants of the house. The youngest son survived the war by going on a Kindertransport to America and found the website. He corrected me that this was NOT the same house and sent me the following pictures. The power of a website is amazing. For 70 years he did not know that his second cousins were still alive. This is a picture of the house in 1974 when the current occupants started to add on to it.  This is how it looks today with what both of the current occupants added to the original house. Notice that they couldn't agree on a color, like my greatgrandparents did. This is a picture of the synagogue from pre-WWII.  This is a streetscape of Hellstein today. This is a picture of the slaughter house that was part of the two family house. The grandfather holding the young child is Jakob (Moses's brother) Grunebaum. The young child is Eric Greene (Grunebaum) who is still alive. The following is from the set of Passover Haggadot that my father was able to send to America after he was released from Dachau in 1939. They were used by our family up until his death. Rick, his son, would read the V'he Sheomdah in German each year at the CBST Community Second Seder. It is an extremely interesting book to see. The illustrations are quite informative of the former German Jewish culture.  This Haggadah was first published in the 1890's and was the Haggadah used by my family in Germany, and in America up until the death of Henry Landman in 2014.  1890's German Haggadah photo of Moses leaving Egypt   1921 German Haggadah photo of Moses leaving Egypt Notice how Moses looks more like a Crusader leading the Jews out of the Rheinland, rather than Egypt... and what is the bridge doing there?  1921 German Haggadah cover where Henry (Heinz) tried to write his name in the cover, but didn't leave enough room for his entire name" 
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Click here to learn more about what happened to Henry Landman on KRISTALLNACHT in Augsburg...
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Uffenheim & Friedberg to Nuremberg to NYC |
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TO EMAIL ME: INFOTRUE@yahoo.com
My father Henry Landman was arrested in his hometown of Augsburg on November 10, 1938 (Kristallnacht) and was sent with his father to Dachau Concentration Camp. His number was 21250 and his father's number was 21234. My grandfather Joseph was able to get a visa to America and then Henry was released from Dachau in the spring of 1939 and at 18 was able to get a transit visa to England, where he survived alone for several months as an "enemy alien".