Schwalbe children send greetings to their father

Ilse Flora Korant (1904-1992) was the only child of her parents, Margarete (Greta) Korant nee Apt (1881-1942), and Georg Korant (1874-1937) of Berlin, Germany. Ilse married Herbert H. Schwalbe (1899–1963). At age 17, Herbert volunteered and served in the Germany military in WWI. He earned the German Iron Cross for his service. He became a dentist, and after marriage, established a practice in Berlin. There, Ilse and Herbert had their son, Reiner (Max) (1928-2007) and daughter, Steffi (1931-2018). In April 1933, Hitler decreed an economic boycott of all Jews. While many thought this aberration would be fleeting, Herbert believed otherwise. Ilse and Herbert decided that he would emigrate (October 1933) to Persia (now Iran) where he had been promised permission to open a dental practice. [The Jewish Museum of Berlin acquired Herbert’s documents in 2008.] Herbert and Ilse did not have the sufficient money required to bring the entire family into the country, so Herbert left Berlin on his own. They sold their Berlin apartment and Ilse and the children moved in with her parents. Ilse worked for a Jewish organization that arranged for immigration of Jewish children (Youth Aliyah) into Palestine. Herbert’s practice did not succeed and he moved to Palestine. There he saw that the kibbutz in which he lived could not support the additional three people in his family. In 1937, with the help of his younger brother, Ludwig Schwalbe (1901-1980) who had immigrated to the U.S. in 1927, and a distant cousin, Richard Simon, Herbert immigrated to California.. In 1937, Ilse’s father died. While Herbert was able to arrange for the requirements to send for Ilse and the children, no papers could be gotten for Ilse’s mother, Greta. In 1939, Ilse, Reiner and Steffi flew to Holland, then took a Dutch freighter for six weeks, arriving in San Francisco, and there greeted by Herbert. Ilse and Herbert worked hard to get papers for Greta. Included in this effort was a proposal of marriage from Emilio Brizio, who resided in Detroit. In 1941, they were able to obtain a ticket for Greta to come by ship to Cuba and then to the U.S. in January 1942. In anticipation of emigrating, Greta shipped her belongings to the U.S. In December 1941, war was declared on Germany, and no passenger ships were allowed to sail. In January 1942 Greta was deported to Riga and murdered. Herbert was unable to meet the requirements to practice as a dentist in the U.S. He worked a variety of jobs, mostly as a lab technician at a university. Ilse was a secretary for a Judge. Reiner and Steffi each married and had children. Now, all are deceased..