Document case owned by a German Jewish refugee in the Shanghai Ghetto

Irma Karola (Lola) Stern (later Loy, 1923-2003) was born in Redwitz an der Rodach to Hugo (1891-1965) and Käthe Gutmann (1900-1995) Stern. Hugo was born in Mulhouse, and had four sisters, including Elli, Erna, and Frieda. Käthe was also born in Redwitz, and had one brother and one sister. Lola had one younger sister, Lisa (later Basch, 1932-2016). Irma often used her nickname, Lola. Her mother’s family had lived in Redwitz for several generations, and ran a rattan furniture business. Her father, Hugo, was a proud World War I veteran, who had been awarded an Iron Cross medal after being wounded. He worked as an insurance agent, and as a merchant. The family later settled in Nordhausen, and lived comfortably. The family as assimilated and spoke German at home, but did celebrate the high holidays. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and the Nazi regime passed legislation to disenfranchise the Jewish population. In 1937, when Lola was 14, she was expelled from school for being Jewish. She worked with an English tutor and briefly attended a private business school, until the Jewish proprietor was forced to close it. In mid-November 1937, Lola’s parents sent her to live with the Haas family, a Jewish family in Konigshofen im Grabfeld, where she learned about store management. She was with them until mid-May 1938, when the family was forced to give up their business and home. That October, Lola’s parents sent her to Frankfurt, where her paternal aunts, Erna and Frieda, lived. Lola’s young age prevented her from training as a nurse, so she worked as a domestic servant in the nurse’s home associated with the Jewish hospital. Lola’s parents wanted to leave Germany and applied for visas to whatever countries were accepting Jews. Although Käthe’s brother in New York City gave the family had an affidavit of support for the US, the large number of other refugees meant their quota number was too high to be called upon in the next year or two. On November 8, 1938, during Kristallnacht, Lola spent the night at the hospital caring for the Jewish men who had been injured. Her father, Hugo, was on a business trip and boarding with a Jewish family in Erfurt when he was rounded-up with the local Jewish men. Several of Hugo’s ribs were broken while being beaten and herded through the streets by the authorities. Hugo was transported to Buchenwald concentration camp. The doctor there agreed to tape the ribs, but warned Hugo not to let anyone know he was hurt because it would make him a target. Lola’s mother and sister, Käthe and Lisa, were arrested by the Nordhausen Gestapo. Although they were released the next day, Käthe returned to the police headquarters daily to enquire about Hugo’s situation. One week later, they were forced to leave their apartment again and move into cramped quarters with other Jewish families. Käthe continued going to the headquarters and train station for news of Hugo. After about three weeks, she was told that Hugo would be home soon, but that he would need to leave Germany within the next six months, or he would be returned to Buchenwald. When Hugo returned, Lisa didn’t recognize him because his head was shaved and he was emaciated. In January 1939, Lola applied for a passport in case the family had to leave in a hurry. Hugo and Käthe continued applying for visas, and Hugo checked daily for passage on an outbound ship at the offices of the Italian shipping line, Lloyd Triesto. Hugo’s relatives in Luxembourg encouraged him to sneak over the border at night, promising to wait for him there. He eventually decided to take the risk. The day he planned to cross, Hugo received a coded telegram from them urging him not to try because the authorities shot anyone trying to cross illegally. Hugo did not make the attempt and returned home in March. Several days later, while passing the shipping office, a travel agent called out to Hugo and explained he had just received a set of first-class tickets for the MS Victoria bound for Shanghai, China. The original ticketholders had secured tickets aboard the MS St. Louis to Cuba, and opted to travel there instead. The MS Victoria was scheduled to sail from Genoa, Italy, in late April, so Lola’s family scrambled to acquire the necessary German exit visas. Shanghai was an open port at that time, so they did not need entry visas, just ship passage. The Stern family reunited with Lola in Frankfurt where they said goodbye to their relatives before boarding the train to Genoa. Hugo’s sisters tried to convince the family to stay, or at least not make the children go, because they believed that things would be fine in Germany. The journey, via the Suez Canal, took roughly four weeks and stopped at many ports along the way. Most of the other passengers were also Jews trying to flee from Europe. In Shanghai, the ship was met by representatives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC or Joint), who helped the refugees settle in. The Stern family was taken to a shelter in an old school in Hongkew, an industrial area of the International Settlement section of the city, where they received supplies and food. Eventually, the family moved into a small apartment, which Käthe tended while Hugo sold second-hand clothing. Lisa attended school while Lola found a position as a waitress in a Jewish-run restaurant and gave all of her earnings to her parents. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The following day, Japan declared war on Great Britain, bombed British ships docked in Shanghai harbor, and occupied the city. British and American citizens were incarcerated in POW camps. On May 18, 1943, prompted by Nazi Germany, the Japanese forced the stateless refugees into a ghetto in Hongkew. The Stern family already lived within the borders, but couldn’t leave the ghetto without a pass. These passes were controlled by a cruel man named Goya, and were often denied. This shift caused many businesses to close and forced many to live on very limited rations in the shelters. Hugo no longer sold clothing, and instead made eggnog and sauerkraut for several businesses. Between his work and Lola’s job, the family was able to stay in their apartment. In May, they learned of Germany’s surrender to the Allies. There were frequent air raids on Shanghai until Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14. Later, the Sterns learned that almost all their European relatives had been killed during the Holocaust, including Hugo’s sisters, Erna and Frieda, and Käthe’s sister and brother-in-law, and their children. His sister, Elli, was living in Palestine. Another of Hugo’s sisters was married to a non-Jew and survived in hiding. From January 1946 to April 1947, Lola managed a chain store that sold ladies clothing in Shanghai. The Stern family decided to immigrate to the US, where Käthe’s brother lived. They arrived in San Francisco, California, on May 16, 1947, aboard the SS General W. H. Gordon, and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In November 1938, Lola married Fred Loy (born Alfred Löwenstein, 1910-1999) in Cleveland, Ohio, where they settled. Fred was another German Jewish refugee that had lived in Shanghai, and an acquaintance from her time there. They had one child. Lola worked for Cleveland Fabric Shops (now Jo-Ann Fabrics) and Herman Textile, Co. In 1949, Lisa married Gregory Basch (b. 1929), another German Jewish refugee from Shanghai. The couple settled in Cleveland and had three children. Gregory ran a chemical business and Lisa worked as a secretary.

The document case was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Gary Loy, the son of Fred and Lola Stern Loy.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gary Loy.