back to Europe

Walter claims that his Holocaust experience is very limited. Although he was never incarcerated in a camp, Walter’s story is unique because he experienced the war years both as a victim of the Nazis and as a liberator.

When the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in March of 1939, Walter, as a Jew, was immediately expelled from the school he was attending there. With great difficulty he made his way back to his parents in Romania. In 1940 the family obtained visas and left on the last ship leaving Italy for the U.S.

In 1942 following the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Walter was drafted into the U.S. Army. His knowledge of German landed him at the Military Intelligence Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, where he was trained in interrogation techniques and joined the famous cadre of “Ritchie Boys.” All were refugees who were trained in intelligence and psychological warfare. They were then sent back to Europe by the army.

Today Walter frequently speaks about his past. “The message of all of us who experienced this time in history is, never forget.”