Lilo Strauss

"Do the best you can to survive and have a normal life"

Name at birth

Lilo Marxheimer

Date of birth

03/09/1920

Where were you born?

Dusseldorf, Germany

Where did you grow up?

Moved to Berlin in 1932

Name of father, occupation

Aduard Marxheimer, Had a telephone company in Dösseldorf

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Martha Katzenstein, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, sister Hilde and me

How many in entire extended family?

Large extended family, each parent had five siblings. All were killed. Family tree in Germany goes back 500 years.

Who survived the Holocaust?

Only me

My father died in 1926, my mother and step-father fled to Belgium and later France. They were captured by the Nazis and were killed at Auschwitz.

My sister Hilde and her husband, left for Brazil in 1939. I acquired a false visa for Haiti for 1000 German marks. In 1940, by herself, I fled Germany going by train to Russia, Manchuria, Korea. I sailed to Japan then to the United States. I was not allowed to enter the port of Los Angeles as I did not have a visa to enter America. I next went to Panama where I had a transit visa and stayed there for one year. I took my record player with me and during my journey out of Germany, I was able to entertain people and make friends.

I had relatives in Nashville, Tennessee who signed an affidavit allowing me to enter the US and I settled in New York. I married another refugee who I met in Panama. In 1942, my husband and I moved to Detroit for work.

Occupation after the war

Created Department Store Displays

Spouse

Egon Weiser; Kurt Strauss

Children

Fred Weiser and Carmen Weiner

Grandchildren

Four grandchildren: Jill, Mark, Hilary, and Erin Five great-grandchildren

What do you think helped you to survive?

My inner strength and knowing what to do to survive

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Do the best you can to survive and have a normal life