Karl Löwy

Source:

http://www.kitchenercamp.co.uk/memories/karl-lowy-memories/

"Karl is not mentioned a great deal in the letters. This might be because he was in a concentration camp – something that remains to be confirmed.

"Karl arrived in Sandwich in August 1939, as recorded in a relative’s letter to Hedwig. At the same time his wife Magda, who was born Hungarian, had to head to Budapest to escape Nazi persecution because her visa for England had not yet been secured: when it was, work broke out almost straight afterwards; she somehow survived the war in Budapest.

"Two of Karl’s letters from Sandwich are among letters we still have; they were sent to Hedwig in October and December 1939. In the letters Karl writes of adjusting to camp life and also speculates on the fates of their siblings and Magda. He is aware of how lucky he and Hedwig are (she was also in the UK – on a domestic service visa).

"The next letter to Hedwig was sent from Hay internment camp in Sydney, Australia, in December 1940. Karl had been deported on the Dunera.

"Karl was then moved to Tatura internment camp in Victoria, Australia, until he managed to get to Palestine in 1942. He stayed there for the duration of the war, getting intermittent news from Magda until finally he heard that she had survived and could perhaps join him in Palestine.

"Karl stated that he would never return to Gmünd or Vienna, but he and Magda did (either because she could not get to Palestine or because they could not settle there). His shop was returned to him and Hermann (who had managed to reach the USA in 1939 and also returned)."