Out of the hell of Minsk into the 'paradise' of Theresienstadt

Karl Loewenstein (1887-1976) was born to Jewish parents in Siegen, Germany, and in 1917 he married Margot Hamburger, who also came from a Jewish family. In 1919, however, he converted to Christianity as a Lutheran. After having served as a naval officer during World War I, he worked as a director of a bank in Berlin, named Busse and Co. He was active in a Lutheran parish in Berlin-Weissensee, and in the 1930s, was one of the founders of a Confessing Church congregation that split from that parish. Due to his involvement in the Confessing Church, as well as his Jewish background, he was arrested in November 1941 and deported to the Minsk Ghetto. In May 1942 he was transferred to Theresienstadt, where he was appointed by the camp commandant to supervise the security services in the ghetto, including the fire brigade. He survived the war and following liberation, he moved to Great Britain, where one son lived, and then to Australia, where another son (Fred Lowen) lived, before returning to Berlin, where he lived the remainder of his days.

Hella Bailin

The original "Aus der Hölle Minsk .." by Dr. Karl Loewenstein was published sometime after the Holocaust. A photocopy of this German-language publication was donated by Hella Bailin to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives on 25 Feb. 1992. An English-language translation by Bernard Ahrend was donated by Bailin on 14 Feb. 1992.