A German-Jewish Refugee Finds Love and a Home in New Mexico by Lilo L. Waxman ong ago from far away I younger brother William. We were very Bad Homburg, with a population of came by ship to the shores lucky to leave at that time before it got so 19,000, was known for its healing springs. of the United States. It very bad in Germany with pogroms and It also was the summer resort of the Kaiser. L was 1936 and I was just My father, a dentist, was a respected person 16. Three years previously in that town. His family and my mother’s Hitler had staged a take- had lived there for generations. We had over in Germany, my country of origin. a three-story house and beautiful garden I have always been an optimist and that with servants to take care of everything. is why this portion of my youth as an My brother and I went to school, and life immigrant felt more like an adventure was pleasant, much like it is living in a than a feeling of sadness for leaving our city in the United States today. I was able home in Bad Homburg, Germany, near to finish high school in Bad Homburg, Frankfurt am Main. where I studied French and, fortunately, English. As a teenage immigrant I was looking for- ward to meeting my great uncle Ludwig After my parents realized that the situa- Ilfeld and his family in Las Vegas, New tion in Germany was getting worse, they Mexico, the real Wild West. For years wrote to my grandmother’s brother Uncle while in Germany, I read books by Karl Ludwig. His uncles, the Ilfelds, had estab- Mai depicting the American West with lished a mercantile empire throughout cowboys, Indians, mountains, horses, New Mexico based in Old Town Las Ve- cattle, wolves, and coyotes. The author gas. In 1892 Uncle Ludwig settled in Las had never been to America himself, but Vegas, New Mexico. When he received my his books were well known throughout parents’ letter he started the complicated Germany, and still are today. procedure for us to gain entry to the U.S., which since 1924 had limited immigration drastically. As family members of a U.S. For me, going to America was a fascinat- Lilo Lang married Arnold Waxman in 1939 at ing adventure. I came with my father, Temple Montefiore in Las Vegas, New Mexico. citizen we were allowed to immigrate, but Dr. Gustav Lang, my mother Edith, and Uncle Ludwig had to sign an affidavit stat- deportations to the death camps. Before ing that he would be responsible for our Legacy is a quarterly newsletter Hitler, we lived in our beautiful town, family so that we would not be a financial published by the a spa well known throughout Germany burden on the United States government. New Mexico Jewish Historical Society and many other European countries. Our Getting out of Germany had its complica- 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE comfortable life stopped when Hitler (continued on p. 8) Albuquerque, NM 87109 took power. Telephone: (505) 348-4471 INSIDE THIS ISSUE We left behind my paternal grandfather, Fax: (505) 821-3351 who died the day after Kristalnacht at age A German-Jewish Refugee Finds Love.....1 website: www.nmjewishhistory.org President’s Message...................................2 email: [email protected] 89. He was too old to emigrate with us. My father’s sister, who remained to take care of Roundup.............................................2 Administrator: Bobbi Jackson him, died in a concentration camp. Rock-and-Roll Nostalgia Trip..............3 Office Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Genealogy Corner.................................4 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday WANTED Las Cruces Forum.................................5 Interim volunteer to run NMJHS office Editor: Dorothy C. Amsden Crypto-Jewish Settlement....................6 in the JCC a few hours a week while Montefiore Cemetery Cleanup............9 Contributing Editor: Naomi Sandweiss administrator Bobbi Jackson is on Layout: DT Publishing, Santa Fe medical leave for several weeks starting In Memoriam....................................10 Printing: Minuteman Press, Albuquerque July 14. Please contact Noel Pugach at October Conference In El Paso..........11 Mailing: Adelante, Albuquerque [email protected] or 505-323-2067. Upcoming Events ..................................12 Legacy, Volume 22, Number 2, June 2008 Message from President-Elect Noel Pugach t the NMJHS board’s the NMJHS. I will rely on their experience contribute your books and other saleable annual meeting on May and seek their counsel. I also welcome the items to our annual Labor Day weekend 4, 2008, I was elected input and suggestions of all of our mem- book sale at Wild Oats in Santa Fe. A president of our Society. bers. Please do not hesitate to offer your Installation of new offic- approval or your criticism. You This fall we invite you to ers will take place at the may contact me at npugach@ attend our first joint confer- next board meeting on June 29 in Albu- unm.edu or 505-323-2067. ence with the Texas Jewish querque. These include Dorothy Amsden Historical Society in El (vice president), Robert Gale (Treasurer), Your input is essential for us Paso. If genealogy is your Stephen Part (recording secretary), and to serve the membership and cup of tea, come to a geneal- Anthony Amsden (corresponding sec- the larger public. We will plan ogy class that NMJHS will retary). to continue our highly suc- offer in October in Santa cessful programs, but we will Fe. These activities inspire I am very honored that the board has also search for fresh ideas and my faith in a bright future placed its confidence in me to lead our approaches. I am happy to an- for the New Mexico Jewish valued Society for the next two years. I nounce that former president Noel Pugach, Historical Society. will devote my energies to the mission of Lance Bell has agreed to serve NMJHS President-Elect the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society as program chair. Share your ideas for Dr. Noel Pugach is professor emeritus of to promote the study and advancement future programs with Lance at zozobra2@ history at the University of New Mexico of knowledge of the Jewish experience in comcast.net. where he continues to teach courses on U.S. New Mexico and to educate the public Foreign Relations and Jewish History. Dr. about Jewish contributions and the role In the pages of this issue of Legacy, you will Pugach has been active in NMJHS for a of Jews in our region. find information on a number of exciting number of years, during which he has guided upcoming events and programs. In August the NMJHS Video History Project and the I hope to follow in the footsteps of pre- we are sponsoring a lecture on “Jews in production of booklets on prominent Jewish vious presidents, most recently Harold Rock and Roll” by Baron Wolman, with New Mexican families. A Melnick, who have advanced the role of a raffle of his famous photographs. Do Roundup by Naomi Sandweiss ince the lazy days of sum- American Jewish history can be found Museum of Jewish Heritage. Superman mer have arrived, let’s take at the American Jewish Historical Soci- himself was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe a lighthearted look at Jew- ety site at http://ajhs.org/publications/ Schuster. If you’re in a comic book mood, S ish contributions to popu- chapters/index.cfm. get your hands on the book Up, Up & lar culture. Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture, and Since it is an Olympic year, it is a good Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero Everybody knows that the Teddy bear was time to recall Jewish Olympians, like by Simcha Weinstein. created in honor of Theodore (Teddy) Samuel Berger, the First Olympic Heavy- Roosevelt. But did you know that a Jew- weight boxing champion who took his For a taste of Victorian Jewish amuse- ish immigrant couple, Rose and Morris gold medal at the St. Louis Olympics in ments, browse the online archives of The Mitchom, invented the stuffed toy? 1904. And while most everyone is familiar American Jewess (1895 - 1899), the first The Mitchoms, refugees from Russian with Mark Spitz, Tiffany Cohen won dou- English-language publication directed to pogroms, ran a small store in New York. ble gold Olympic swimming medals at the American Jewish women. Editions can be After Roosevelt’s famous encounter with 1984 Olympics. More on famous Jewish found at the Jewish Women’s Archives at a young bear, Rose cut and stuffed a athletes and others can be found online www.jwa.org. Where else can you view piece of velvet into the shape of a bear, at the Jewish American Hall of Fame at an illustration of Sarah Bernhardt’s “lat- which the couple displayed in their shop http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/. est” gown or receive diet tips circa 1896? window, labeling it, “Teddy’s bear.” “Do not lie in couches, back in rockers Roosevelt adopted it as a 1904 campaign Up, Up & Oy Vey? If your plans include or sit on easy chairs” is the advice of one symbol and the Mitchom’s enterprise travel to Cleveland in the Fall, don’t miss doctor. My suggestion? Make sure that eventually grew into the Ideal Toy Com- the exhibit The Superhero: Golden Age of all of your reclining this summer is on a pany. Many more fascinating stories of Comic Books 1938 –1950 at the Maltz hammock! A Page 2 New Mexico Jewish Historical Society Rock-and-Roll Nostalgia Trip with Legendary Photographer Baron Wolman ho is the photographer who sent Wolman a check for $50; overnight Happy birthday to Rolf Beier immortalized rock-and-roll his hobby became his career.