Helen and Sol Krawitz Holocaust Memorial Education Center

MANFRED GANS Obituary

GANS–Manfred, born April 27, 1922 in Borken Germany died peacefully at his home in New Jersey on September 11, 2010. He was our hero and the hero of many others. In response to the Nazi regime, his parents sent him to England at the age of 16. At 18 he was chosen to join the elite group of British Commandos, known as, X-troop. He landed with the allied armies on D-day and fought throughout the European campaign. He rose to the rank of captain and was among the troops who liberated his home town. After the armistice was signed, he and a driver drove to Czechoslovakia and were the first Allied soldiers to arrive at the Terezenstadt concentration camp where he found his parents alive. He then organized their return to Holland. Through much of the war he corresponded with his childhood sweetheart, the late Anita Lamm, whose family left Germany for New York City in 1938. They were married in New York in 1948. Manfred recorded this in his memoirs, Life Gave Me a Chance, published in 2009. After the war, Manfred studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester and then went on to MIT where he completed a master’s of science. He joined the chemical engineering firm, Scientific Design, specializing in design and start-ups. His career took him all over the world and was part of the first wave of professionals to conduct business in China and East Germany in 1973. In 1976 he started consulting for the UN and went on many assignments that included Cuba, Turkey, Vietnam, and Pakistan. During his professional career, he was awarded patents and authored technical papers. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and was the winner of the 1993 “Chemical Engineering Practice Award.” He has been an inspiration and will be sadly missed by his brother, Gershon Kaddar, in Israel, his son, Daniel Gans, his daughter Aviva Gans Rosenberg, their spouses Linda and David, his grandsons: Aaron, Jeremy, and Dylan, his sister-in-law Lilo Goldenberg Thurnauer, his close friend, Esther Okin, and an extended family and friends throughout the world.

The following excerpts and adaptations were prepared by Nancy Gorrell, editor, based on Manfred Gan’s memoir, Life Gave Me a Chance.

THE WEINMAR REPUBLIC, JEWISH STRUCTURE:

Manfred grew up in a “picturesque” one thousand year old German town, Borken, in Wesfalia, near the Dutch frontier “a town with walls and moats.” Manfred says according to the town’s records his grandmother’s ancestors had moved within the walled city in 1610. He notes this was an unusual privilege for Jews. “We regarded ourselves as Germans first and foremost–our father had lost a leg in WWI fighting in the German Army. Manfred lived in a “large, luxurious house just outside the town (Bocholterstrasse); “we had two maids and a chauffeur and employed people to look after the flower and vegetable gardens.” Manfred’s father sold textile fabrics to custom tailors on the other side of town. He was on the road driven by his chauffeur regularly. Manfred says that although Borken was a rural town and the trade and industrial center of a highly mechanized textile industry, there was plenty of poverty and misery around us. The trauma and defeat of WWI, huge causalties, runaway inflation, the economic crisis of 1928/29 with its vast unemployment created a bleak public mood as well a crime and a search for radical solutions. Manfred says “my parents were decidedly opposed to the prevailing public mood. They were democrats and socialists. They strongly believed that a nation should be ruled by its elected representatives.His father became president of the local branch of the League for War Injured. “As a result, he was very popular and became the Chairman of the local branch of the Social Democratic Party.Although Jews lived in Borken for 700 years, he was the only Jew who was ever elected to the Town Council.”

When Manfred was growing up, Borken had 8,000 inhabitants, including 25 Jewish families. There were Jewish families  in nearby villages, but all the Jewish children went to school in Borken. Manfred says “we were brought in accordance with orthodox Jewish tradition. We ate only Kosher food, observed sabbath, and attended services every Friday night and Saturday morning, afternoon and evening. At the age of six, Manfred attended the Jewish Elementary School consisting of one classroom and eight grades. Apart from secular education and prayers, he learned to read and write Biblical Hebrew. Manfred recalls with great fondness his brilliant and kind teacher, Gruensberg, who emigrated to Israel before WWII. At age 10 Manfred graduated to the Public High School, “which like the whole region, was predominantly Catholic.” Manfred now had to attend classes on Saturday morning without being able to write on Saturdays or carry books to school on Saturdays.

THE STORM:

Manfred says, “Even before 1933, as eight year old children, we were very much aware  of the Nazi movement.” His mother’s parents, Moritz and Bertha Franenkel lived in a small village, Voelkensean, near Hanover. They were the only Jews in that village and did not try to hide the fact. They did not believe in organized religion; literature, operas and music were their inspiration. Manfred says that by that time, everyone in that village which was predominantly  Prostestant, while Borken was overwhelmingly Catholic, the people “started to withdraw from us.” Manfred says his family heard while listening to the radio” that President Hindenburg had appointed Adolph Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist Party, as the Chancellor (Prime Minister) of the German government. It was January 31st, 1933. Manfred recalls his mother was stunned.  Manfred says by the reaction of his fellow students in the public high school, he realized “our lives would be changed fundamentally. In February and March 1933 in preparation of a new national election, every town was ordered to organize torch light parades and demonstrations to show the new spirit. At the time there was no Hitler Youth to lead the parades and songs. The High School had to substitute for the Hitler Youth and “we Jewish students just had to go along. It took two such events before my father got us out of this duty and just in time. The songs and parades became more aggressive and increasingly anti-Jewish, Nazi songs.”

Manfred recalls that Saturday, April 1, 1933 was the watershed confirming our lives had changed drastically. Hitler proclaimed that “international Jewry” was organizing a boycott against German and in retaliation , he ordered the boycotting of all Jewish businesses in Germany. Storm Troopers prevented shoppers from entering Jewish businesses.

RE-EDUCATION AND LIFE GOES ON:

Manfred recalls the  re-education beginning May 1, 1933 with the “revelation that our Biology teacher was a full member of the Nazi Party.   He notes that this PhD in Biology was charged with teaching the Science of Races, a ‘science’ which was to prove the racial superiority of the Germanic race and the inferiority of Blacks and Jews. As we reached the ripe age of 15 or 16, we Jewish students were exposed to this ‘wisdom.’ My brother, Gershon, was exposed to this reeducation as well. But Gershon carried to school two volumes of Arthur Ruppin’s Sociology of the Jews. “Whatever assertions were made by the Biology teacher, Gershon had the statistics to disprove them. Manfred concludes his High School years with the observation that “Life Must Go On.” The ramifications of having to live with the pervasive teaching of Nazi idelogy, the forced code of having to employ in public the outstretch arm known as the Hitler salute, the alienation of Jewish students from non-Jewish students did not stop Manfred from engaging in gymnastic sports, going on ‘glorious’ summer vacations with his uncle’s agricultural training farm and two weeks at a ski resort and a beach in Holland. “When German society was slammed shut, our Jewish community readily, eagerly, turned to Zionism, Hebrew and Jewish traditional learning. Under the guidance of the teacher from our elementary school, we became members of the Orthodox Zionist movement.”

Manfred’s older brother left home for Palestine in 1936 at the age of 16. Manfred left his classmated for England in the summer of 1938, “relishing the thought of a free society where I would be able to talk to anybody and everybody. Only the prospect of never seeing again the beautiful fields, forests, flatlands, mountains, towns, and villages where I had grown up occasionally filled me with pangs of sadness: The Hitler Reich would last for generations and we would never be allowed to return.”

FREEDOM AND THE CLOUDS OF WAR

Manfred left Germany on a Friday afternoon in July 1938. His father took him across the frontier to his cousin in Winterswyk, Holland. On Sunday morning he travelled alone by train to the Hook of Holland to take the night ferry to England. “I cherished the adventure and excitement.” The next morning, Manfred journeyed alone by train to Liverpool Street station in London. As arranged by his parents, he settled with the Jacobs family in Golders-Green, London. Mrs. Jacobs, a kind and well-off lady, met him at the station. Manfred quickly grew fond of her as she schooled him in English and introduced him to her daughter and all her household guests. All Manfred’s high-powered introductions in England were from Mr. Jacobs, an insurance salesman and an officer in the Jewish legion in WWI.

BECOMING AN INTERPRETER
During this time, Manfred’s uncle, Alex Moch, who was in charge of a Jewish agricultural training school in Germany (Gut Neuendorf) came to England with the idea of setting up a similar training school and transferring all his students and personnel from Germany to England. He asked Manfred to be his interpreter. Manfred says in his memoir, “this proved to be a fascinating experience. Eventually, through the German Jewish Aid Committee, a number of rich people united and created Tythrope House near Oxford to which Alex could transfer his students and personnel.”

THE STUDENT:

Manfred was supposed to stay in England for two months and then to return to Germany to start attending a Jewish High School in Berlin. But after a few months his parents sent him a letter asking, “What would you do if we asked you to stay in England permanently?” Manfred states in his memoir: “I knew exactly what I wanted: to try to get a high school certificate, then to work as a mechanic apprentice while continuing my studies to become an engineer. Manfred’s cousin, Bernard Moch, introduced him to the Adler Rudel family. Rudel was a permanent official of the Jewish Agency and on his advice, Manfred decided to enlist in a tutorial college in London that did nothing but prepare students for the ‘Matric.’ Manfred notes that as he started to attend the tutorial college, Hitler made clear his intensions to go to war in order to absorb Sudeten Germans into his Reich. While Manfred pursued his studies, London endured air-raids, gas masks, non-essential people fleeing to the countryside, and Manfred had to look after himself which he says “I didn’t mind at all.” Nevertheless, the Munich Conference was supposed to be the last chance to avoid war. At the conference, France and England agreed to let Hitler absorb the Sudetenland. Manfred notes in his memoir that the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, a member of Parliament, says to Prime Minister Chamberlain, in a House of Commons speech: “You had to choose between dishonor and war. You chose dishonor and you will get a war.”

MANCHESTER:

Jobs for unskilled people like Manfred were very hard to get at this time. Unemployment was high in England. The German Jewish Aid Committee through its connection to Jewish employers was almost the only access to paid work. Manfred agreed eagerly to go to Manchester and was brought to a well-run hostel for temporary residence. After two weeks, the Refugee Committee found a job for Manfred in a factory that was a mass producer of furniture. Manfred was “delighted” with the arrangements. As an Orthodox Jew, he was not required to work on the sabbath. His paid work would be in the machine and truck repair department. Manfred says he was “deliriously” happy. His residence changed from the hostel to living with the Steinart family, the second richest Jewish family in Manchester. The contact was made by Mr. Jacobs unknown to Manfred. He spent every Friday night and shabbat dinner with the Steinarts. Manfred says in his memoir that “he relished the ‘dual’ identity life that he led, being a member of the working class in pretty filthy circumstances all week and then spending time with very rich people on the weekends. A heavy German bike which my parents sent me was my sole method of transportation for commuting, attending classes in the evenings and visiting friends.”

WAR:

Manfred testifies in his memoir, “To nobody’s surprise, the war started on Friday, September 1, 1939. I didn’t have a radio, but German broadcasts could be easily received…I listened on my landlady’s set.” Manfred states that Hitler marched into Poland from the west and Stalin marched from the east. “They divided up Poland along a pre-negotiated line. “Then Hitler made his triumphal speech in Danzig in which he set out his program for dealing with the divided territories including “a final solution” for the Jewish problem. “But in my opinion, he said ‘Judenfrage’ too devious to use the phrase ‘final solution.’ But that is what he meant. “He left that to Goebbels and his underlings.”

BECOMING ‘ENEMY ALIENS:

With the outbreak of war, “we German and Austrian refugees now became enemy aliens. Tribunals were set up to classify our status: A) were interned immediately, B) were kept under surveillance; C) were given complete freedom.” Manfred says with all his contacts, he had no difficulty getting class C, complete freedom.” During this time, Manfred continued studying for the Matric exam necessitating long trips to Manchester. He says, “In January 1940, I again ‘sat’for the Matric exam. This time Manfred passed. “My parents were delighted as were his friends, the Steinarts.” Manfred testifies this was a major step in his professional career.” It was Manfred’s intention to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering by taking evening classes in Manchester. I wanted to specialize in agricultural machinery to eventually emigrate to Israel.” In the spring of 1940, mobilization “got into its full stride and now jobs were readily available. Manfred started to work for Massey-Harris, the producer of high-speed agricultural machinery. Manfred decided to seek a job in machine-tool fabrication, “but the development of the war changed all my plans. In April, 1940, Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway. “Local Nazi parties had been organized for years by the Germans and they now facilitated the takeover of their country. Manfred says that in Norway this group was led by a man named, Quisling whose name became synonymous with traitor.”

On May 10, 1940 Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Manfred reiterates in his memoir the “main features of that invasion: massive bombings of cities including Rotterdam in Holland to assert Nazi might, motorized troops rapidly swarming throughout the countryside, and again, local Nazi parties betraying their country. Within a few weeks, the Germans took Paris and a new French government under Petain and Laval surrendered to Hitler. Churchill, formed a coalition government offering the country, “nothing but blood, sweat, and tears.” Manfred states, “the mood in Great Britain was defiant. This was their finest hour.”

INTERNMENT:

Manfred states “with the German invasion, internment was inevitable.” Jewish refugees fled to England and the British populace became highly suspicious of all foreigners.” As for Manfred, he recalls “the police came to my house and told me to sell my bicycle. I could still go to work but by bus.” Manfred fitted all his dire necessities into one big suitcase and storied it in the Steinart’s basement. Soon thereafter, the police left word than Manfred should stay home. The following day, they “fetched” Manfred in a small police car took him to Bury, 12 miles north of Manchester where an old, disguised textile mill had been converted to an internment camp. Manfred testifies that “2000 inmates ranging from loyal-to-Hitler German merchant marine sailors, captured by the British Navy, to ultra, orthodox, Chasidic and German Jesuit priests who had been persecuted remorselessly by the Nazis. Manfred states, “for us Orthodox Jews, food became a major problem. “There was no kosher meat. We subsisted on vegetables and canned fish like sardines. We slept on the floor, with mattresses filled with straw in a big empty hall. The roof leaked. It was an atypical English summer. There was little rain. After about three weeks, “we were transferred to a large tent camp, Prees-Heath near Shrewsbury. There, the Orthodox were separated from the others. “We had a separate group of tents and our own kitchen. Although the conditions were better than before, Manfred recalls “the lack of really nourishing food made me feel weaker by the day.” He also recalls a visit from the Chief rabbi of Great Britain who implored us not to ‘feel bitter about the British people for ‘this act of panic.’ The rabbi was optimistic that we would be set free soon.’” Manfred also notes in his memoir that “The young Pastor Niemoeller was one of our internees who openly criticized Nazi ideology from his pulpit in Berlin. Manfred also mentions his cousin, Hansfried Gans who turned up in the tent camp together with internees from London.
As the weather turned more inclement in August and September, “we were transferred to the Isle of Man, where each internment camp consisted of several blocks of houses that had been boarding houses before the war. Manfred states, “again we Orthodox had our own houses right on the ‘boardwalk’ with an extensive barbed-wire fence separating us from the sea.”

THE PIONEER CORPS:

In the fall of 1940, the British government lowered from 21 to 18 the age at which “enemy aliens” could join the army. Shortly thereafter, Manfred testifies a Jewish major and his staff came to the camp after a stormy meeting where “we protested that we would rather join the army as free men, and “I and a number of other people signed up. I was 18 years old.” At the beginning of December Manfred joined 15 volunteers under the guidance of a corporal, taking the ferryboat back to Liverpool and travelling all night by train to Ilfracombe in Devon, headquarter of those companies of the Pioneer Corp made up of aliens. Manfred states that “my two years in the Pioneer Corps were “the most frustrating time of my life: I did not have the feeling that I was contributing much to the war effort, and despite all the manual labor we were doing on construction projects, I did not learn any new skills to advance my professional career.” Manfred says he did learn in Ilfracombe the basics for being a soldier:
How to wear and polish the uniforms, parade ground rules, getting inoculations and carrying and using gas masks which we had to carry at all times. There was fear Hitler would use poison gas on invasion or attacks. Eventually, a new company was formed and Manfred and other alien soldiers were sent to Catterick Camp, a longtime army base in Yorkshire. Manfred remarks, “it took almost two years before ‘enemy aliens’ attained the rank of officers in the Pioneer Corps.” In the fall of 1941, Manfred and his fellow pioneers moved to Muirhead, near Glasgow, to build a huge military storage unit. They were billeted in the homes of the civilian population. Manfred and his friend Ruediger had one aim: to get out of the Pioneer Corp. One if Ruedigger’s contacts got him into the Intelligence Section of No. 1 Commando, a few months before the Inter Allied Commando was created.

THE END OF MARKING TIME:

When the call came to be interviewed for something special, Manfred was “very happy, sure that
‘special’ would represent an elite troop, and I had no doubt that I would be accepted. Five years of being treated as a pariah and four years as a tolerated refugee had come to an end. The dawn of self-emancipation, of a career free of prejudice rose in the early hours on a spring Sunday morning in 1943 in Aberdovey in North Wales, the training base of 3 Troop, 10 Commando. Within an hour of arrival, I had to change my name and identity from Manfred Gans to Fred Gray. We were urged to have just one cover address, friends or family to where our mail from our previous life could be sent. I chose the Wislickis in Manchester. They were both doctors and used to being discreet. I had to get rid of my diary, clothing with my name stitched on and my Tallith and Tefillin…My change of identity was complete. I was keen to accept new challenges.”

X TROOP: WWII GERMAN-SPEAKING PARACHUTE COMMANDO TROOP OF THE BRITISH ARMY:

Three Troop Ten Interallied (IA) Commando was organized by Lord Mountbatten with the special approval of Winston Churchill. The troop had 87 members, 19 of whom eventually were killed on battle missions. Speaking German without a foreign accent was the essential qualification for joining the troop. Battlefield interrogations, infiltration into German lines, and long distant patrols were the major tasks of the Troop. Manfred asks who was in the Troop? 90% were Jewish by Hitler’s definition; by Halachic (Jewish Law) 70% were Jewish. Members were from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Manfred testifies, under our new name as well as our old name we relished the life of daring and deception…Above all we were superbly fit, and as a consequence superbly self- confident. We never fought as a troop, but there were 1-5 of us with every Army commando or Royal Marine Commando unit which went into action.”

The Holocaust Memorial and Education Center gratefully acknowleges the donation of Manfred Gan’s memoir, Life Gave Me A Chance (2009) by his daughter, Aviva Ruth Gans Rosenberg with permission of electronic and digital photographs therein.