United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Henry Oertelt (born Arthur Karl Heinz Oertelt, 1921-2011) was born on 13 January 1921 in Berlin, Germany to Arthur and Else Oertelt. He had one brother, Kurt (later Kurt Messerschmidt). Henry’s father died when he was two years old, and his mother worked as a seamstress. As Jewish persecution increased in Germany, Else lost her job and Henry was no longer able to attend school. In May 1943, Henry, Kurt, and their mother Else were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In October 1944, Henry and Kurt were sent to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp. Several weeks later, they were sent to the Golleschau sub-camp of Auschwitz where Henry was a forced-laborer in furniture and cement factories. In January 1945, as the Soviet army approached the camp, Henry and the other prisoners were sent on a death march to the Sachsenhausen and Oranienburg concentration camps, and then to the Flossenbürg concentration camp where Henry and Kurt were separated. Henry was liberated on the death march from Flossenbürg in April 1945. He was reunited with his brother in Berlin, and soon met Inge Fromm. Inge was the daughter of Erma Fromm (1892-), who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt and survived the war. Henry and Inge married in 1946. Their daughter, Stephanie, was born in 1948. In 1949, they immigrated to the United States on the U.S.S. General C. C. Ballou. The family settled in St. Paul, Minnesota where Henry worked as a furniture designer. He also became active in education about the Holocaust, travelling around the area to speak to groups about his experiences.
Copyright Holder: Ms. Corey L. Samuels Ph.D.
box 1
The collection is arranged as one series.
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Henry Oertelt of Berlin, Germany. Included are presentation scripts of his story authored by Henry and his daughter Stephanie Oertelt Samuels, pre-war photographs of his wife Inge Fromm’s family, an identification card of Inge’s mother Erma Fromm, copy prints of liberation camp photographs of the Buchenwald concentration camp, and video recordings of presentations done by Henry.
Oertelt and Fromm families papers