The Levins and Israel: Emigration to Palestine and Israel

The Association of Jewish Refugees was involved in contextualising Jewish history and documenting the Jewish experience, as evidenced by their correspondence with Ernst in order to clarify the identity of figures in a First World War book written by the Jewish-German Zionist, scholar and physician Dr. Elias Auerbach.

From Ernst’s reply, it is apparent that Auerbach, working in Israel, treated his younger brother Walter Levin when he contracted polio in 1914. He proceeded to record this treatment in one of his autobiographies, likely one entitled ‘From The Fatherland to the Land of the Fathers, the first Jewish doctor in Haifa’, pages of which are shown below. Ernst expresses strong personal distaste for the doctor in question, who apparently refused to allow Ernst’s emigration to Palestine before WWII, due to Anicuta being ‘Arian[sic.] and Catholic’.

Ernst’s reply to query from the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain:

27th July 1971:

“May I use this occasion to answer your question concerning Dr Auerbach’s book: Yes, the Walter Levin he mentions was my youngest brother, who emigrated to the then Turkish Palestine in 1910 to work on the family farm of the brothers Treidel in Kinnereth. He acquired an acute Poliomyelitis there and I collected him in Sues[sic.] … He survived the War Years 1914-1919 paralysed in arms and legs, and committed suicide in 1923; I have loved him dearly. Dr. A. denied that Polio was endemic in Palestine: it was not true”

“I met Dr. A. again in Berlin when I wished to emigrate to Palestine when Hitler was swindled into power. He bluntly refused my application because my young wife was Arian [sic.] and Catholic.; he was extremely nasty and unpleasant to me.”

“Our family farm at Kinnereth is now run my nephew Gabi Treidel, son of my youngest sister Trude Levin who married Oskar Treidel and died in Berlin from a cerebellar abscess.”

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Letter from Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain discussing the memoirs of Dr Elias Auerbach and his mention of Walter Levin. Photocopied pages enclosed

The representative of the Association of Jewish Refugees writing to Ernst stresses the vital importance of documenting Jewish history though family archives, requesting that should he ever want to rid himself of his father’s correspondence, that he should donate them to a Jewish body such as the Leo Baeck Institute London.

 

10th April 1974:

“I enclose a Photostat of the relevant pages. Though I realise that they revive sad memories for you, I could imagine that they will be of interest to you.

You will notice that in the March issue the problem of Richard Strauss and the Nazis was dealt with in an article by Mr. Freyham. We received a letter of protest which will appear in the May issue together with Mr Freyham’s comments.

This brings me to another question … As your late father had personal contacts with Strauss (I think the character of the Kommerz Lenrat in Intermezzo was based on him), and as he was also in touch with other prominent artists, I could imagine that some material (correspondence etc.) still exist. This, of course, belongs to the family. There were, however, cases in which relatives were not aware of the importance and did not keep documents of this kind (early attempts at archiving) … I was just in New York where I again visited the Leo Baeck Institute which has a unique collection of literature and documents pertaining to the history of the German Jews between 1812 and 1933. The institute often receives material from families …”

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Photocopied pages of Dr Elias Auerbach’s autobiography, mentioning Walter Levin

Auerbach’s account also supports Ernst’s descriptions of his wealthy parents’ lavish lifestyle and connections to prominent artists of the age. Auerbach claims that Willy Levin, Ernst’s father, was an ardent patron of the arts who knew and supported Max Reinhardt in his early career – Reinhardt would go on to become an internationally renowned theatre and film director.

 

“At the beginning of July 1914 in Haifa we were not yet aware that a huge catastrophe was brewing. The country didn’t yet have a newspaper that was kept informed by telegraph … I personally had other things to think about anyway, since in the first few days of July a severely ill young man of 24 years from Berlin, called Walter Levin, was brought to my hospital. He had wanted to settle in Palestine as a farmer, and as preparation was working on the farm of Alfred Treidel at Kinneret. Two days prior he had suddenly been struck with a very high fever. At first the obvious assumption was that it was malaria, but on the second day, paralysis set in on both legs.

He was in an awful condition … the paralysis was spreading and signs could already be seen in his arms too. It was undoubtedly polio. He was at serious risk of death. [Describes medical processes which halted the progression of the paralysis]

… His life was saved, although the paralysis of his legs etc. of course could not be reversed. His case moved me severely. I personally knew this handsome, blooming young man, who appeared that he would stay a cripple. He came from a rich Jewish family in Berlin. His father, Willy Levin, was a well-known businessman who used his wealth as a patron of the arts. He was one of the first, who helped Max Reinhardt in his rise to fame, and was also in general a great admirer of literature and music.

…I immediately let his father know, who did absolutely everything to be well-informed and get the best treatment for his son. Money was not an obstacle. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with his son in the hands of a ‘village doctor’ in some forgotten corner of the world, and urged the transport of his son back to Berlin. I told him that in the present condition this was as good as murder.

… After three weeks I said that he could travel. The father wanted me to personally accompany my patient to Berlin, but it was out of the question that I should leave my practice for six weeks … it was decided that his brother, a young doctor, would pick him up at Port Said.

… Already in Jaffa, we heard reports of a sharp political tension over Europe and the possibility of a European war. But this thought seemed to us so absurd and fantastical that we didn’t take it seriously. We were born in peace and had decades of peace behind us, and now a war was going to break out amongst the great powers? Unthinkable! Apparently Austria had given Serbia an ultimatum which was turned down. But still, one doesn’t set the world on fire because of one political assassination!

… We dropped the patient off with his brother … and I went to Cairo. Everywhere, groups of people stood in the street animatedly discussing the imminent war … when it was clear the war would happen, I knew I had to get out of Egypt immediately. If England entered the war, I would be in danger of being arrested and interned as a German citizen.”

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Annekathrin visited the Treidels and family in Israel (Haifa), in 1964.

 

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