Born: Wurzburg, Germany, 8 February 1921
Profession in country of origin: Mechanic
Arrived in Britain as a refugee from Germany on 6 June 1939
Documents
Male enemy alien - Exemption from internment - Refugee
Surname: Silbermann
Forename: Erich
Alias: -
Date and place of birth: 08/02/1921 in Wurzburg
Nationality: German
Police Regn. Cert. No.: 711 665
Home Office ref: C 961
Address: Kitchener camp, Richborough, Sandwich, Kent
Normal occupation: Mechanic
Present occupation:
Name and address of employer: -
Decision of tribunal: Exempted "C" & 9A
Date 13.10.1939
Whether exempted from Article 6(A): Yes
Whether desires to be repatriated: No
Source: National Archives, Home Office: Aliens Department: Internees Index, 1939-1947.
B. Non-transmigrants Name of ship: Georgic Steamship Line: Cunard White Star Limited Names and descriptions of ALIEN passengers embarked at the port of Liverpool Date of Departure: 18th March 1940 Where bound: New York Contract ticket number: 127250 Port at which passengers have contracted to land: New York Names of passengers: Silbermann, Erich Class: 3rd Ages of passengers - Adults of 12 years and upwards - Not accompanied by husband or wife - Males 19 Children between 1 and 12: - Infants: - Last address in the UK: Kitchener Camp, Richborough, Kent Profession, Occupation, or Calling of passengers: Mechanic Country of last permanent residence: Foreign Countries Country of Intended Future Residence: USA Country of which Citizen or Subject: Germany
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.
Reproduced with the kind permission of World Jewish Relief.
Document submitted by Steven Silbermann, for his father, Erich Silbermann
Memories
My Father, Erich Silbermann, and his first cousin, Siegfried (Fred) Silbermann, went to Kitchener Camp in 1939.
They had lived until that time in München, Germany. My Father, along with his father, Joseph Silbermann, were arrested during Kristallnacht and sent to Dachau. My Father was kept in Dachau for three weeks, his father for three months, and then they were released.
My Father and his cousin, Fred, were allowed to leave Germany to go to Kitchener Camp through the program arranged with the German government.
My Father was a machinist and machine builder in Germany. He was born in 1921 and had wanted to go to university to become an engineer. The anti-Jewish laws didn’t allow him to go to university, however, so he chose to become a machinist apprentice.
My Father told me the program at Kitchener Camp was for young German Jewish men. In exchange for working to rebuild the camp in preparation for the invasion of mainland Europe, these young men received room and board and a small stipend.
In 1940 my Father was granted a visa to America and he came to New York City. In 1943 he was drafted, and after basic training was shipped back to England in an Amphibious Engineering Army unit. They landed at Utah Beach with the initial landing at 6:30 a.m. on D-Day. He fought through France and Germany until the war’s end.
Erich returned home on New Year’s Day 1946 and married his fiancee, my Mother, on January 6, 1946.
Family history kindly submitted by Steven Silbermann, for his father, Erich Silbermann
Photographs
Photographs submitted by Steven Silbermann, for his father, Erich Silbermann