Louis Wijnberg

This interview is part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s History Potluck Series. In this interview, Mr. Wijnberg shares photos and documents from his life. He begins by sharing photos taken at the end of World War II while he was still in Europe. He also shares documents he received from the Dutch government detailing what happened to his parents and younger brother who died in camps during the war. He explains that he and his twin were sent away early enough before the war, but his family could not escape later. His mother and younger brother were murdered in death camps in 1943 and his father died a year later of typhus in a work camp. Mr. Wijnberg goes on to share photos of his early childhood in Holland, including family trips to the beach, photographs of his parents, and school pictures. He also has photos of his life after the war, including photos from his daughter’s wedding. Throughout the interview, Mr. Wijnberg contextualizes the photographs and documents he brought, providing insight into what it was like to be in Europe after the fighting ceased in World War II and sharing memories triggered by the photographs. He recounts a memory about taking a stamp collection from a house in Germany and later trying to return it. He also explains how, after the war, he was able to go to school because of the G.I. Bill where he started studying chemical engineering but fell in love with physics because of a good professor. The interview concludes with Mr. Wijnberg explaining why some of the documents has his name spelled with a “y” instead of “ij” because in the United States, the “ij” combination is not common.

In this second interview, Louis Wijnberg discusses his war experience at length including a very painful story related to a fellow soldier. He also tells of his relationship with fellow soldiers with different backgrounds and his difficulty in making friendships. Another major theme is his conflicted feelings about Germany, Germans, and the German language. Finally, he talks about his two wives and step-children.

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.