We Don’t Want Jews Here: How I Coped

I’d boarded the R.M.S. Britannic seven days earlier in South Southhampton, England, October 17,1938. I’d turned eighteen just two months beforfe.

When I was only fifteen, despite the chaos churning around me our lives had not yet drastically changed. But I had read Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, and it certainly seemed to me Jews in Nazi Germany were doomed. It was clear that Hilter wanted to exterminate all the Jews of Germany.

The so-called “Nuremberg Laws” limiting the civil rights of Jews had passed that year, and we were all aware of the dire implications. Instead of pursuing a degree in law, I quit school. I saw no future in an academic career. Instead I decided to become a secretary, a faster, more direct route to independence.

Read more in my book at http://www.avoyagethroughtime.com/

 

The Inner Circle

But pretty soon I became part of the inner circle. I still have pictures of a group of us sunning ourselves during lunch hour on one of the fishing boats anchored just a short walk from our office building. There we were, Mr. Schwarzchild and his secretary, the senior vice president in charge of personnel, and two other secretaries from our department. I’d been accepted among them. I even dated a few of the young men who worked for the firm, but nothing serious came of it….

I knew I needed to perfect my English skills — in both dictation and writing — so again everyone’s opinions that I was making a big mistake, I declined their offer. I struck out on my own and started answering in the Hamburger Fremdenblatt. I was relieved what I got a job interview for the position of English Correspondent with the firm, J. Jacobi.

 

Hope for the Future

A Voyage Through Time was written as an inspiration for many age groups. For young people, it proves that ambition and perseverance can bring a successful life. Middle Aged people, it showcases the struggle to find success. For older generations, it proves that even with a difficult start, people can achieve their dreams.

This book shows my warm feelings for family and friends and the importance of capitalizing on your past for a better future.

 

The Housemaid

With the lack of available factory and office jobs, many girls foundt hat the only way they could support themselves was as a sleep-in housemaid help back in the 1930s. Therefore, I too, decided to look for a job as a sleep-in housemaid. At that time, which they could easily afford since free room and board were part of the salary. Even the meager wages were attractive to me. Many refugees and immigrants found thsi the only way to have both shelter andf ood and at least some pocket money.

I found a job with a young Jewish couple living in Newark, New Jersey. After two busses, I surpisingly found their house with ease. It was located in a predominatently middle-class Jewish neighbordhood. The couple greeted me in their rather lage ground floor apartment. The husband was a doctor who had his office at home. I was a hired for $25.00 a month….

To learn about my story – check out my book. www.avoyagethroughtime.com

 

A Voyage Through Time

A memoir of the life journeys that Margo Young has taken from her birth place (Hamburg, Germany) to the United States and other places

My book is the life story of a 15 year old girl from a wonderful, caring Jewish family. At the age of 15 I read Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” which clearly pointed out that Hitler wanted to kill all the jews in Germany. That plus the discriminations which had started Germany, convinced me that there was no future for any Jew in Germany and that all of us had to leave Germany which had been my home and that of so many generations before me.

I left my home town, Hamburg at the end of August, 1938, just a few days after my 18^th birthday by myself. The first chapter of my book describes my arrival by ship in New York. I considered it a wonderful adventure and now, about 70 years later, I am still adventurous.

People have asked me why I wrote this book. Actually my younger sister, Vera, gave me the idea to write down not only our family history, but also my voyage through life. There are chapters about my grandparents, my school days, the loving parents and then my life in America, from the beginning as a sleep-in house maid, a factory worker, a secretary, to the boyfriends, a wonderful husband and business partner and to my life alone as a widow.

I believe the book might be inspiring reading for young people to show how with ambition and perseverance, one can succeed. But older people might find pleasure also reading the story of an interesting and successful life.