Fern Schumer

My dear friend Jürgen Flügge continues to tell the story of our mothers' deep friendship. His mother, Mina, lived with my mother's family, the Westerfelds, for several years during the 1930s. During the Great Depression, Mina's family in Stockstadt am Rhein couldn't afford to feed all of their children, so her parents asked my grandparents if their 15-year-old could do chores in exchange for room and board. Mina became much more than a housekeeper to the Westerfelds. When my mother (Edith)...

Local news article about the Kristallnacht ceremony in Münzenberg. Here is the translation: No “one-size-fits-all” approach: This year’s commemoration by the town of Münzenberg and the Friends of Münzenberg Castle and Town was anything but an automated, perfunctory event. The focus this year was on the eventful life of Gerda Katz, a resident of Münzenberg who had to flee the Nazis in 1938 – a commemoration poised between hope, loss, and historical responsibility. Gerda Frumkin, née Katz, fled...