Fuigure 1. Here are some of the primary children at the Jewish Zeilsheim DP camp. The photograph is undated, but looks as if it was taken a few months before the camp was closed in 1948. One can not help but thinking that other images like this taken only a few years earlier show the Germns taking the children to their death.

Zeilsheim DP Camp was located 12 miles west of Frankfurt and like the other DP camps for Jews located in the Allied (mostly American) occupied zone of Germany. It was different than most DP camps. Zeilsheim was a small town, essentially a residential suburb for the workers of an IF Farben plant. The homes were small 2-3 story townhouses. The U.S. Army requisitioned them to accommodate inhabitants for a DP camp specifically to accommodate Jewish refugees. There was no doubt where the refugees wanted to go. The refugees renamed the streets and building complexes after towns and kibbutzim in Palestine. Zeilsheim quickly developed an active cultural life. The refugees established a theatrical group, a synagogue, a jazz orchestra, a sports club (Chasmonai), and several schools, including an ORT school. The camp set up a library with some 500 books. Two Yiddish-language newspapers circulated: Unterwegs (In Transit) and Undzer Mut (Our Courage). The camp held 3,570 refugees (October 1946) and may have served 5,000 Jews before it was closed. With the creation of Israel the British restrictions on immigration to Palestine ended and like most of the other DP camp, Zeilsheim was closed (November 15, 1948).

Location

Zeilsheim DP Camp was located 12 miles west of Frankfurt and like the other DP camps for Jews located in the Allied (mostly American) occupied zone of Germany. Zeilsheim because it was so near to Frankfurt was also called the Frankfurt DP camp.

Small Town

Zeilsheim was different than most of the DP camps. Zeilsheim was a small town, essentially a residential suburb for the workers of an IG Farben plant. IG Farben was a major German industrial corporation which played an important role in the NAZI war effort. It was the company which produced the deadly Zyklon-B gas used in some of the German gas chambers. The homes were small 2-3 story townhouses. Thus was a typical. Many of the DP camps were set up in former concentration or labor camps. The U.S. Army requisitioned them to accommodate inhabitants for a DP camp specifically to accommodate Jewish refugees. The Zeilsheim DPs thus had comfortable homes rather than having to live in barracks. Even so conditions were cramped. The refugees renamed the streets and building complexes after towns and kibbutzim in Palestine.

Conditions

Supplies like at other DO camp were provided by UNRRA and American Jewish aid organizations. Gen. Eisenhower appointed Judah Nadich as his first adviser on Jewish affairs in the European Theater of Operations. Nadich made frequent visits to Zeilsheim and other DP camps to ensure that the basic needs of the DPs were met. David Ben Gurion, chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency, also visited the camps. He personally inspected Zeilsheim. He was not only looking at conditions in the camp, nut prompting emigration to Palestine.

Camp Life

Zeilsheim quickly developed an active cultural life. The refugees established a theatrical group, a synagogue, a jazz orchestra, and a sports club (Chasmonai) The camp set up a library with some 500 books. Two Yiddish-language newspapers circulated: Unterwegs (In Transit) and Undzer MutFun letztn khurbn which was printed in Munich.

Size

The camp held 3,570 refugees (October 1946) and may have served 5,000 Jews before it was closed.

The Children

Several schools (including an ORT school and a high school) were established for the all too few child survivors. A youth group was organized, although we do not yet have details. You can see some of the children and youth in their uniforms on the previous page. They do not look like Scout uniforms. A special section was organized to interview the child survivors of the Holocaust.

The Future

The DP camp were set up to provide temporary housing and care. Understandably none of the survivors wanted to stay in Germany. And few had homes or families to which they could return. Most of the DP's wanted to go to America or Palestine. Changes in American immigration law made emigration to American possible. Palestine was more difficult. The British faced difficulty keeping peace in Palestine before the War, because of rising Palestinian opposition to Jewish immigration. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem resisted British efforts to set up a secular government with constitutional protections for minorities. Before the War with German assistance he launched the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936) attacking the British and Jews. He then supported pro German forces in Iraq and Iran before fleeing to Berlin where he encouraged Himmler to kill more Jews and organized murderous Muslim SS units in the Balkans. The British understanding Arab resistance and the importance of Arab oil, severely restricted emigration to Palestine. As a result, Zeilsheim and other DP camps, were the site of many protests against British immigration policy.

Closure

With the creation of Israel the British restrictions on immigration to Palestine ended and like most of the other DP camp, Zeilsheim was closed (November 15, 1948). A dispute had arisen between rabbinic authorities and the U.S. Army. Rabbi Philip Bernstein, Adviser on Jewish Affairs to U.S. military authorities in Germany and Austria, was convinced that closing the camp would be cruel to the remaining DPs. The U.S. Army wanted to return the houses to workers at the IG Farben plant in nearby Hechst. The Army postponed the closure until after the state of Israel was created which opened the way for unrestricted emigration. When the camp was finally closed, some of the Holocaust survivors protested the action.

Created: 10:11 PM 10/13/2013
Spell checked: 12:06 AM 10/27/2013
Last updated: 12:06 AM 10/27/2013