Born: Leipzig, Germany, 17 July 1910
Profession in country of origin: Grocery storekeeper and gardener
Arrived in Britain as a refugee from Germany on 23 May 1939
Documents
Male enemy alien - Exemption from internment - Refugee
Surname: Sussmann
Forename: Emanuel
Alias: -
Date and place of birth: 17/07/1910 in Leipzig
Nationality: Stateless
Police Regn. Cert. No.: 711 469
Home Office ref: C 702
Address: Kitchener camp, Richborough, Sandwich, Kent
Normal occupation: Storekeeper
Present occupation: Painter & building camp
Name and address of employer: -
Decision of tribunal: Exempted "C" & 9A
Date 11.10.1939
Whether exempted from Article 6(A): Yes [Later crossed out in red pen]
Whether desires to be repatriated: No
[Later additions - Interned EC. Released. Embarked 30.05.1940]
Source: National Archives, Home Office: Aliens Department: Internees Index, 1939-1947.
B. Non-transmigrants Name of ship: Antonia Steamship Line: Cunard White Star Limited Names and descriptions of ALIEN passengers embarked at the port of Liverpool Date of Departure: 30th May 1940 Where bound: Quebec & Montreal Contract ticket number: 50040 Port at which passengers have contracted to land: Montreal Names of passengers: Suessmann, Emanuel Class: 3rd Ages of passengers - Adults of 12 years and upwards - Not accompanied by husband or wife - Males 29 Children between 1 and 12: - Infants: - Last address in the UK: Kitchener Camp, Richborough Profession, Occupation, or Calling of passengers: Store-keeper Country of last permanent residence: Foreign Countries Country of Intended Future Residence: USA Country of which Citizen or Subject: Stateless
Source: National Archives: Passenger Lists leaving UK 1890-1960.
Editor’s note: We are not allowed to reproduce National Archives (UK) images, but we are permitted to reproduce the material from them, as shown above.
Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers
USHMM Container List, Series 1: Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers, 1909-approximately 1990 (bulk 1930-1945)
Identification Papers, 1934-1939 Item 1999.A.0040_001_003_0002 Location Box 1 / Folder 3
English translation, below, kindly submitted by a Kitchener Descendant
Jewish Community of Schweinfurt
Subject:
We feel obliged, regarding Mr Bernhard Schwarzeneberger, to state the following to [from?] our board: Mr Bernhard Schwarzenberger, who currently holds the honor of Vice President [II ?] in our community, has for many years been a proven and honored member of our local authority. Whenever something needed to be done in our synagogue and in the Jewish community when men were needed, one could always be certain it would get done if you went to him. The congregation especially thanks him for the fact that he has been ready to serve for many decades. Whether it was to act as cantor on weekdays, Sabbaths, or holidays, Mr Schwarzenberger always gladly offered to help. On the High Holidays he regularly participated to the complete satisfaction of the community. In the presentation of prayers as well as the singing of the Torah section his natural musicality is of great benefit to him. Also in the synagogue choir which plays a significant role in the beautification of the service, Mr Schwarzenberger is a true and beloved member. The members of our congregation have always been happy to listen to his ancient traditional melodies and prayers.
Schweinfurt, March 24, 1939
Source: USHMM Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers Container List, Series 1: Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers, 1909-approximately 1990 (bulk 1930-1945) Biographical Materials, 1909, 1930-1939, 1945 Item 1999.A.0040_001_001_0009 Location Box 1 / Folder 1
To view the following images, please click to open in enlarged full form
Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers
USHMM Container List, Series 1: Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers, 1909-approximately 1990 (bulk 1930-1945)
Biographical Materials, 1909, 1930-1939, 1945 Item 1999.A.0040_001_001_0009 Location Box 1 / Folder 1
There are many more documents and photographs from the Suessmann archives at USHMM online, and these are very much worth consulting for the wider family history
All items reproduced here with the kind permission of Michael Suessmann, for his father Emanuel Suessmann
Memories
Emanuel Suessmann was born Emanuel Süssmann in Leipzig in 1910.
He was arrested and imprisoned in Sachsenhausen in November 1938 and was resident in Kitchener camp in 1939.
Emanuel left for the United States in 1940, where he was drafted into the army. He served in the Military Intelligence Division in Germany, “With loyalty and devotion to duty”.
Emanuel married Louise (Lisl) Schwarzenberger and they had a son, Michael, who has given his kind permission for access to his father’s documents and photographs where they are held with USHMM as follows:
Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers; Document | Accession Number: 1999.A.0040
The ‘Ritchie Boys’: Kitchener Men In the US Military During WWII
Editor: My review of ships’ manifests from 1939 and 1940 indicates that at least 500 Kitchener men departed England for the United States.
As a condition to obtaining the required visa, each man was linked to a sponsor who vouched to provide support as necessary to prevent the émigré from becoming a public charge. The men entered the United States either in New York, another American port, or by way of Montreal or Quebec, Canada. They then proceeded to the areas where their sponsors or, if lucky, their relatives and friends, resided.
When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Kitchener men were subject to the draft. Unlike in England where separate Alien Battalions were established in the unarmed Pioneer Corps, there were no separate units for aliens. Also unlike England, the United States expedited the granting of citizenship to refugees who were in the armed forces rather than deferring citizenship until the end of the war.
Overall, some 550,000 Jewish men served in the American military during the war.
Through the work of an American, Dan Gross, we have identified nine Kitchener men whose names appear on both the 1939 Register for Kitchener camp and on the list of men who were part of what became known as “The Ritchie Boys.”
The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 15,200 servicemen who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence during WWII at the secret Camp Ritchie training facility.
Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them were Jewish refugees born in Germany and Austria. They had been drafted into or volunteered to join the United States Army and when their ability to speak the languages of the enemy were discovered, they were sent to Camp Ritchie on secret orders.
They were specially trained in methods of intelligence, counterintelligence, interrogation, investigation, and psychological warfare.
The Jewish refugees were suitable for these tasks because they knew the German language, and importantly the German mentality and behavior, better than most American-born soldiers. The role of these soldiers was therefore to work on the front lines (or even behind them), at strategic corps and army levels, at interrogation, analyzing German forces and plans, and also to study and demoralize the enemy. The majority of them went on to work as members of the US Counter Intelligence Corps.
Descendants of these and other Kitchener men who served in the US armed forces during WWII are invited to contact us with information so that we can add to our information about this significant part of Kitchener history.
Note: The nine men at both Kitchener camp and Camp Ritchie are:
- Hugo Einziger
- Otto Freund
- Erwin Grossman
- Paul Husserl
- Oskar Kleinberg
- Leo Plachte
- Rudolf Rosenstadt
- Emanuel Suessman
- Paul Timan
See the Complete Roster in Dan Gross’s work: www.theritchieboys.com
Submitted by Michael Suessmann, for his father Emanuel Suessmann
Photographs
To view the following images, please click to open in enlarged full form
To view the following images, please click to open in enlarged full form
Source: USHMM
Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers
Container List, Series 1: Emanuel and Louise Suessmann papers, 1909-approximately 1990 (bulk 1930-1945)
Biographical Materials, 1909, 1930-1939, 1945 Item 1999.A.0040_001_001_0009 Location Box 1 / Folder 1
All items reproduced here with the kind permission of Michael Suessmann, for his father Emanuel Suessmann