A new life in the United States
Fred Marcus
Fred arrives in San Francisco on February 22, 1949, and quickly settles into his new life in the United States. He finds a job at the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco and continues his hotel career for the next 15 years. His old friend from Berlin and Shanghai, Ted [Theo] Alexander, is also in San Francisco, and with Ted’s help Fred starts teaching Sunday school at a local synagogue. His new part-time job soon leads to a second career: at the urging of his rabbi, he pursues first a bachelor’s, and then a master’s degree in Jewish education at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.
Despite his upbringing in a relatively non-observant Jewish family, since leaving Berlin Fred has learned to embrace his Jewish identity and faith, largely through his close relationship with the Alexander family in Shanghai. His career in Jewish education culminates in his being named President of the National Association of Temple Educators in 1980, a year before his retirement.
Transcript
Fred Marcus: I came to the United States very quickly. I found a good job in the hotel business. I worked from 1949 to 1964 at the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco, had an excellent position, was well-liked and very successful. But the hand of fate, usually called ‘Alexander’ in my family, was at work again.
And Ted [Theo Alexander] got me a job as a Sunday school teacher in one of the synagogues of San Francisco. And my good Jewish background from the Jewish high school came in stead and of—took me in good stead, as well as this experience with his family. Within two years, people said, "You have very great administrative talents. Would you come to our synagogue and run the religious school on a part-time basis?"
By the time I—while I was still working in the hotel six days a week, I spent two days in a synagogue running programs. And by that time, in 1967, I had a school of 700 students and took the place of a person who was running the school full-time as a part-time person. My rabbi—Gitten—whom I mentioned earlier, my mentor, said, “Well, we want you to come to us full-time under one condition: that you go and get a master's degree in Jewish education.”
And it was only at that time—and I was 40 years old—that I worked full-time in the congregation, commuted to Los Angeles, and became—got first a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree from the Hebrew Union College. And from then on, it was Jewish education all the way.
"And from then on, it was Jewish education all the way."
USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive, Interview 9214
Fred at work at the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco.
Courtesy of Audrey Friedman Marcus.
Fred and Ted Alexander, his childhood friend from Berlin, conducting services together in San Francisco in the 1950s.
Courtesy of Audrey Friedman Marcus.
Fred marries Lucille Rosenbloom in 1951, and together they have a daughter, Vivian, and a son, David. The marriage ends in divorce. In 1974, Fred marries again, this time to fellow Jewish educator and publicist Audrey Friedman Marcus, who has three children from a previous marriage. Together, they and their respective children form a loving family, which over the years grows to include ten grandchildren.
After Fred’s retirement in 1981, he and Audrey move to Denver, CO, where Audrey is from, and Fred begins a third career as a travel consultant. He and Audrey travel extensively on their own and leading tour groups, visiting over 100 countries. Their many trips include several visits to Germany and to China, where Fred seeks to reconnect with his past experiences. It is during one such trip to Germany in 2002 that Fred suffers a heart attack and dies.
Fred’s memory lives on in the Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture, initiated by Audrey and inaugurated in 2003 in partnership with the Holocaust Awareness Institute at the University of Denver’s Center for Judaic Studies. The annual lecture presents innovative research in Holocaust studies and promotes Holocaust education. Fred was a member of the Institute’s Survivor Speakers Bureau for years.
Fred and Audrey during their last trip to Germany, June 2002.
Courtesy of Audrey Friedman Marcus.
Transcript
Fred Marcus: And of course, I spent most of my lifetime in San Francisco in the Bay Area. Somebody asked me what my hometown is. I—I used to say, “San Francisco”—still do very often. But now with our frequent visits to Berlin, it—Berlin has become more real to me.”
Interviewer: I'd like to talk some about your life since then, but I'm—I'm wondering why, at the time, you didn't return to Berlin.
Fred Marcus: I don't think-- with very few exceptions—anybody entertained the idea of returning to the country, where such horrors had been perpetrated. I am proud to say that today, I have a number of German friends, good friends, decent people, you would be proud to call your friend and—but they're all young people. But to return to that society that made possible what happened was practically unthinkable. I can think only of one person who our circle of friends, Ted's and mine, who went back. And he went back because he had no place else to go. He was an old bachelor, very set in his ways. And he went back, and he hanged himself. We urged him not to go.”
Interviewer: At what point were you finally able to go back to Berlin?
Fred Marcus: It was incredibly difficult to go back there emotionally, and it still is, as I have a love/hate relationship. And it is not something that happened overnight. Gradually, gradually, you begin to see that there are some decent people there, that I had some good times there, that they're highly cultured people, and that you can have a wonderful time there, and that you have to take the bitter with the sweet, just like we have to do it in our own country. And so it was a process that, gradually, every time I went, I felt a little more comfortable.”
And I am immensely indebted to my wife, who is very supportive.
I'm afraid it's not going to go away. It's just something that is—I have to live with as long as I can.
Interviewer: Take your time.
Fred Marcus: Next question, dear friend.
Interviewer: OK. So when you say you're indebted to your wife, can you say why? You—you mentioned support, but what does that support mean to you?
Fred Marcus: Boy, how do you put that into words? A normal reaction of a less supportive, empathetic, and loving person, quite acceptable, would have been, "How do you-- why do you take me to this horrible place?" There are still thousands of my contemporaries, of my cohort Jews who will not set foot on Germany, who will die with the old prejudice in their heart and perpetuate the hatred and the misery that was brought upon us and upon themselves just out of sheer, blind hatred.
And I think it's a major, major challenge in my life and in everybody's life to overcome that. If we want to create a better world for our Joshuas and Anyas and my little grandson, Gabe, then we have to overcome this parochial feeling, and we have to create a better world.
I'm afraid it's not going to go away. It's just something that is—I have to live with as long as I can.
USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive, Interview 9214
Fred Marcus' Timeline
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Fred Marcus born in Berlin, Germany
His parents, Samuel and Gertrud Marcus, name their son Fritz Werner Marcus. He will later change his name to Fred Marcus.
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Jewish population in Germany is c. 523,000
The c. 523,000 Jews living in Germany at the beginning of 1933 make up less-than 0.75% of the country's total population (67 million). Approximately 80% hold German citizenship; the next largest group are Polish citizens, many of whom are permanent residents of or were born in Germany. Some 70% of the Jewish population in Germany lives in urban areas; the largest community (c. 160,000 people) is in Berlin.
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School quotas limit the number of Jewish students
Quotas allow only 1.5 percent of high school and university students to be Jewish. Jews will be totally barred from German schools by 1938, and Jewish schools will be ordered closed in 1941.
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Law requires registration of Jewish-owned assets
Under the "Order for the Disclosure of Jewish Assets," Jews must register all property valued at over 5,000 Reichsmark. This law sets the stage for the expropriation of Jewish property and possessions.
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Registration of Jewish-owned businesses
Businesses owned in whole or in part by those defined as Jews under the Nuremberg Race Laws must register, which allows for the further expropriation of Jewish property by the Nazis.
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Restriction of Jews from professions
Nazi laws restrict Jews from employment in numerous professions, including: book-keeping, real estate, money-lending, and tour-guiding.
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Kristallnacht Pogrom
Kristallnacht--the "Night of Broken Glass"--begins the night of 9 November and continues through the next day throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. Nazi leadership plans and coordinates the pogrom, during which more than 1,400 synagogues are burned, Jewish-owned businesses destroyed, and about 30,000 Jews are arrested and deported to concentration camps. The Jewish community is later required to pay "restitution" for the damage caused to their own property. Nazis claim Kristallnacht was a "spontaneous" response to Grynszpan's assassination of vom Rath. In the United States, the Kristallnacht attacks were front-page news. Despite widespread condemnation of the Nazi persecution of Jews, the majority of Americans did not want to welcome Jewish refugees from Europe.
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Exclusion of Jews from German economic life
The "Order for the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life" prohibits Jews from owning stores or engaging in any type of commerce with goods or services. Furthermore, Jews are prohibited from managing businesses of any kind and are forced to sell their businesses to Germans.
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Jewish children banned from public schools
Jewish attendance at German schools has been subject to a restrictive quota since April 1933. Though most Jewish students had already left German public schools due to antisemitism, this law formally expells Jewish children from schools.
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Fred and Semmy Marcus depart Berlin bound for Shanghai
With only a few personal belongings, some family heirlooms, and ten marks each in cash in their pockets, Fred and Semmy Marcus leave Berlin. They pass through Munich on their way to Genoa, where they board a ship bound for China on March 29.
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Fred and Semmy Marcus arrive in Shanghai
After an exciting and comparatively luxurious 29-day passage, Fred and Semmy Marcus arrive at Shanghai pier and are transported to refugee housing.
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US, Canada, and Cuba deny entrance of Jewish refugees on the St. Louis
The U.S., Canada, and Cuba deny entrance to over 900 refugees aboard the St. Louis, though they possess Cuban visas. The passengers--nearly all Jewish--are forced to return to Europe. Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Holland accept the refugees, though many are later deported and murdered when the Nazis occupy Belgium, France, and Holland.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
Nazi Axis power Japan bombs the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing 2,390 soldiers and civilians.
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US enters World War II
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US declares war on Japan, as do Great Britain and the other Allied powers. The Japanese military attacks British forces in Shanghai harbor and gains control of the International Settlement in Shanghai, bringing the entire city under Japanese control.
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President Roosevelt signs Executive Order for relocation of Japanese Americans
In reaction to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 mandates the internment of Japanese Americans with the stated purpose of preventing espionage. From 1942 to 1945, US government policy requires that people of Japanese descent in the US--including American citizens--are forcibly relocated to and held in isolated camps in the US interior.
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Nazi surrender at Stalingrad
After months of bitter fighting, the Soviet army is finally able to surround and trap German forces besieging the city. Of the nearly 250,000 troops that attacked the city in August 1942, some 90,000 surrender to the Soviets. The German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad marks a turning point in the war; Soviet forces will now advance and push the Axis to retreat.
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Jewish refugees in Shanghai restricted to Hongkew ghetto
Japan issues the “Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless Refugees”, ordering the c. 23,000 stateless refugees in Shanghai—who are overwhelmingly Jewish—to move to a designated “Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees” in the neighborhood of Hongkew.
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Samuel Marcus dies in Shanghai
Semmy's health has been poor since early April, and he is admitted to the hospital on April 20th. Fred is himself struggling with pneumonia and his infection keeps him from visiting his father as he fights a severe fever for 8-10 days. When Fred’s fever subsides, he learns that his father passed away on May 1.
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D-Day: Allied invasion of France
The long awaited invasion of Nazi-occupied France by Allied forces begins with the landing of some 175,000 US, British and Canadian troops on the beaches of Normandy.
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Death of US president Franklin Roosevelt
Following a stroke, President Franklin Roosevelt dies. Vice President Harry Truman becomes President.
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Unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany's High Command unconditionally surrenders on 7 May to the Allies and 9 May to the Soviets. May 8 is proclaimed "Victory in Europe Day."
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US atomic bombs destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The US drops an atomic bomb on Japan's manufacturing and port city Hiroshima on 6 August. The bomb obliterates the city, killing nearly 80,000 people, mostly civilians. On 9 August, the US drops another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing at least 40,000 people.
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V-J (Victory over Japan) Day: Imperial Japan surrenders
Imperial Japan announces surrender to the Allies, ending World War II. Formal surrender ceremonies follow on 2 September.
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Emigration crisis for displaced persons (DPs) in Europe
Two years after the end of the war, there are still some 1 million people in displaced persons (DP) camps in Europe. Approximately 250,000 are Jews awaiting further immigration, many of whom wish to emigrate to Palestine. For many DPs, repatriation to their pre-war homes is unthinkable, but many countries--including the U.S.--still impose restrictive immigration policies.
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Exodus sails for Mandate Palestine
The ship Exodus embarks from France carrying approximately 4,500 Jewish refugees bound for British Mandate Palestine. British forces prevent the ship from docking and return it to France, where refugees remain on board for over a month. British administrators enforce a strict quota on Jewish immigration at the demands of Arab leaders in Mandate Palestine.
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US Congress passes Displaced Persons Act
At the urging of US President Truman, Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 allowing for the entry of 100,000 DPs from Europe per year, greatly expanding the previously enforced national origin quotas. The Displaced Persons Act is amended in 1950. In total, 400,000 DPs immigrated to the US between 1948-1952, including an estimated 80,000 Jews.
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Fred Marcus departs Shanghai bound for San Francisco
Nearly ten years after his arrival in April 1939, Fred Marcus boards the S.S. Joplin Victory in Shanghai Harbor, headed for San Francisco and a new life.
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Communist forces led by Mao Zedong reach Shanghai
Rural China has been in the midst of a civil war between the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai Shek and the Communist opposition led by Mao Zedong since the end of Japanese occupation in 1945. As Communist forces under Mao Zedong reach Shanghai, a Communist takeover in China is all but certain.
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The Jewish population of Europe is an estimated 3.5 million
In 1933, Europe was home to an estimated 9.5 million Jews. By 1945, two out of every three have been killed. Before the war, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, numbering some three million. An estimated 350,000 Polish Jews survived the war, and by 1950, only 45,000 remain in Poland. The lives lost in the Holocaust account for most of these demographic changes. For most survivors, a return to their pre-war lives is unthinkable, and they seek to start a new life abroad.