Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

A Falher 's Story

63

RolfLevy with sons, Rodolfo, Oscar, and Guillermo Levy, in front ofthe former
home of Rolfs parents in Schmieheim, June 2003

china, and all of the Jewish residents of the town would dress in their formal
evening wear to attend Services at the synagogue and share the evening
meals.

As I remember, my father was well-liked by all of the residents in
Schmieheim. Nevertheless, they did not help my father when the Gestapo
came to look for my father at our home. When I was a small boy, there
were at least two occasions when my father hid himself in our attic. Anoth-
er time, he hid amongst the dark foliage of the Black Forest. On yet anoth-
er occasion my mother asked a family friend to help hide my father. I do
not remember the details of this event because I was a small boy, but I do
remember going to visit my father in a nearby town, perhaps Lahr or Kippenheim
. My mother towed me along in a small seat attached to her bicy-
cle until we reached the town where my father was being kept under pro-
tected police custody. He spent approximately one week under protection,
until the crisis temporarily subsided.

As I look back at these events, I realize that there came a time when my
father no longer had to hide from these Gestapo raids because the residents
of Schmieheim had come to think of him as a local hero. Shortly after the
incidents described above, it could have been weeks or months later, there
was a day on which torrential rains feil upon Schmieheim. Water raced