Henry Laurant Testimony- Veronica Willbanks

Henry Warner Laurant original name Hans Werner Levy was born May 28, 1924 in Koenigsberg, Germany to his father Walter Levy and mother Sara Berherndt Levy. He had one sister. He lived on Munz street which means coin that over looked Palace Lake. During the winter they would ice skate and during the warm months they would do boating. His father was a Pediatrician and did his practice out of the apartment. Their second home was on Weissgerber. He inherited he love of books from his father. His mother was artistic she loved to do sculptures. They left Koenigsberg when he was twelve years old and moved to Berlin. He was insulted in school for being Jewish it got worse as he got older and went through school. He would get into fights at school because of being a Jew. He joined an organization to help him get through the difficult time at school. Jewish connection came about negatively due to the exposure in school. Father served in the German army in WWI. No Jews were allowed to practice as doctors or lawyers. Left in 1936 due to the treatment of the children and father started up a practice in Berlin. Dr. Leanora Goldwitz (spelling) opened a school for the Jewish children in Berlin. Hitler didn't really bother Berlin until the Olympics was over. They went and hid at a friends house right before Krystallnacht happened on November 10, 1938. He said the Nazis would march through the streets saying " When Jewish blood comes splashing from the knife everything went twice as well". He went to England December 10, 1938 it was only suppose to be temporary. He said it was "going from a bloody dictatorship to a free country". When him and his father were saying their farewells his father said "we are both mean aren't we". He stayed in a camp in England from December 1938 to March 1939. He then went to live in Bradford with Rabbi Auroburch he lived with him from March 1939 to May 1942. He communicated with his family through letters through the Red Cross until the war started. Sister was deported to a concentration camp in 1943. His parents were caught trying to escape from Germany and was taken to Aushwitz. He couldn't get into army so he was called up for war work until 1945. He then went to work for the US Armed Forces until 1946 then he went to a University in London and got a degree in Economics in 1949. He meet his first wife in Paris and had one son named Alexander. He got married to his second wife had another son named Nicholas. He worked for the World Bank. He got married for the third time in 1990 to Dr. Lesley Ford who kept her name. He said he did not feel any survivor guilt until he realizes he survived and his family did not. Affected his adult life that he sees a psychiatrist. He says that "Price to pay for one's freedom and survivor ship". His message to the next generation was NEVER AGAIN.