Louis Wijnberg - On family and education

Louis Wijnberg was born in Holland in 1922. The interview begins with an overview of his extended family, all Jewish, and what happened to them during the Nazi occupation. A few were able to escape capture due to spectacular acts of bravery including going in to hiding and escaping via ship to England and the US; but many were killed in the death camps, including his parents and younger brother whose escape effort was thwarted in southern France. Recognizing the threat posed by Nazi anti-semitism and jingoism, Louis’s parents had arranged for Louis and his twin brother to emigrate to the US in 1939, where he was taken in by a business colleague of their uncle. After completing high school, he was drafted and served for three years in the US Army in Europe. Upon his return to the US, he was taken in by two different Dutch Jewish families, first in New Jersey and then in Brooklyn, where he lived with a publisher’s family. The publisher, who had connections to Cornell University helped him find a spot in the newly-created Physics Engineering program. There he completed his degree, and, during his master’s studies, he met his wife Marion, a graduate student in social work, who was dealing with a number of issues including an unwanted pregnancy and abortion. They later had two children and a 25-year marriage. Louis discusses the ups and downs of the relationship, his debts incurred by his wife’s medical expenses, and his relationship with his children.