European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Jewish Leader thanks America for his life by de Reavis staff writer a. A a  a ,. Pm Hen Arno Lutiger met a vib am an american reporter a m Ham. 3h. At a press conference wbb w in Frankfurt Germany. Full b a earlier this year he a a embarrassed the is. Reporter by thanking . For saving his life. A a a a a he Vas actually. A thanking All the americans who fought a Adolf Hitler who along with his nazis was trying to destroy Lutiger s people the. Fun rope an Jewery. But it was still  receive Praise for valor that one had t personally demonstrated Quot i mean it a Lutiger insisted Quot without a the americans i would have starved to death after the  the incident came to mind a few weeks later when Lutiger and the reporter met again in Frankfurt this time during the presentation to Lutiger of the medal of Merit the highest civilian award Germany can give. A v a a a. A a a a a a the medal was in appreciation for Lutiger s Post War efforts to restore jewish communal life in Frankfurt for promoting understanding Between jews and christians and As a historian for keeping alive the memory of the men and women of the jewish resistance to Hiller s army if Lutiger had starved to death 49 years ago the world would have lost one of its most dedicated re builders. Lutiger s life Story is a tale of european. Tragedy and Why american military. Involvement in Europe was necessary. A the 70-year-old Lutiger was born and  Bedzin an Industrial town in a Sou Ali Centra i pol a and a Bou t t i Voy m i Les from the Border of what was then Germany a a. And is now Slovakia. Bedzin had a majority of jewish inhabitants. A Quot it was a Center of jewish life of. Religious and secular jewish culture in Western Poland Quot Lutiger said Quot i attended a jewish High school in town and enjoyed a Good jewish and Carefree  Lutiger was 15 when the War broke out. He said his family tried to flee but were overrun by the invading German army and eventually returned to Bedzin where his father and 50 others were taken hostage. A week after the invasion the germans dosed off Bedzin s jewish Quarter near the great City synagogue drove several Hundred jews into the synagogue and burned it Down y a a. A a a Quot when i visited my Hometown in 1993 for the first time in 50 years i found no Trace of the synagogue nor a memorial Tablet in commemoration of that horrible crime there was just a Patch of grass near the ancient Castle where we ust i to play As children Quot he recalled. A Redzin was annexed Fry Germany Anci a series of Laws to Harraw jews was passed. Many were hunted Devn in the streets and sent to forced labor Camps. Everyone had. To work in order to get a ration card which. Was essential Tor staying a i e. A Quot at 17, i Lead to work at turned labor not far from Homo. Thousands were sent to nearby Auschwitz Only 70 Miles from. Bedzin and imagine we did to know what was going on there Quot he said. A. The jews who Sun. Ived were Lowed to live in a ghetto. In the morning hours of aug. 1, 1943, the ghetto w As surrounded a by a German .55 and police. The jews were rounded up and sent to the railway station Wett wishers line up to congratulate Amo Lutiger after he was presented the German medal in Merit. A amps Dave Carey where open boxcars were ready to take them to Auschwitz the zionist youth movement offered armed resistance and 400 people were shot on the spot. Lutiger s family had anticipated the a. Deportation and had dug a great underground Bunker on the estate that housed the family scrap Iron business. Quot there we survived the first Days outside the ghetto. We then reported to the forced labor Camp in the Vicinity As Volunteer inmates and were All admitted he said. The Lutiger family was ooh i dispersed the five children and the parents were sent to different Camps. Amo was moved through several winding up at Langenstein which he called Quot the worst Camp i was in. Life expectancy there was four  a at the end of a March 194 5, Lutiger and his y fellow prisoners were sent Westward on a death March As the germans tried to avoid. The approaching russian forces Quot during a dark night i escaped from the March was caught and led to the execution site. I managed to flee again. In april 1945 i was found half dead by an american army patrol in the Harz. Mountains. Only a dozen of my fellow prisoners survived this March Quot he said. Lutiger said an army doctor saved him by putting him on a strict diet. Thousands of Surv ivors died after liberation from i had the Honor to Wear the uniform of the . Army which made this great and unforgettable contribution to Mankind by saving the world from the domination by nazi mass murderers. It was the happiest time of my life. A Amo Lutiger eating food that was too Rich after two weeks of care by army medics Lutiger was on his feet again and immediately volunteered As interpreter for English German and slavic languages. Quot i had the Honor to Wear the uniform of the . Army which made this great and unforgettable contribution to Mankind by saving the world from the domination by nazi mass murderers. Twas the happiest time of my  six weeks after the end of the War Lutiger left the army and went in search of his family. He found his three Sisters and his Mother who had survived the death Camps but his father and younger brother were killed in Auschwitz Lutiger wound up in a Camp for displaced jews in Zeppelin Heim near Frankfurt where he worked As an interpreter and As a member of the editorial Board of the yiddish newspaper Unte Vegs underway. When the Camp was dissolved Lutiger stayed on to help re establish a jewish Community in Frankfurt. One of his most unforgettable moments in postwar Germany Lutiger said was the first Rosh hash Ana a jewish new year a prayer service held in the ruins of Frankfurt s West end synagogue in september 1945. A Quot the jewish . Army chaplain a Captain Vida conducted the services with or. Neuhaus the Only surviving rabbi of the former glorious jewish Community who had just returned from the. Ther Eisenstadt concentration Camp Quot never in my life will i forget the tears of the Battle hardened soldiers who survived the Landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy and other battlefields when chaplain Vida prayed for the memory of the 2,000 jewish children of Frankfurt who had been killed in  a today Lutiger s Foremost efforts Are dedicated to telling the Story of jewish resistance during the third Reich. Quot it s a Story that not Only has not been told but has even been denied by some persons called scholars like Raul Hilberg who has the reputation of being the expert on the Shoa the holocaust but claims there was no notable jewish resistance to the National  Lutiger recently published a history of jews in the Spanish evil War and is writing a copious work on jews who resisted the nazis throughout Europe. He said he decided to Start the work while recovering from a heart attack and Quot realizing i owed it to the men and women of jewish resistance to Tell their Story As Long As i was capable of doing it Quot Lutiger sees this work As a service to those who found the physical and moral a a strength to stand up against the mightiest and Rrt Ost brutal regime in world history. A he Calk it a refutation of charges of. Passive if by european jews and of claims of the non existence of a jewish resistance. Quot to be act this part of history Quot he said Quot is to create a very unjust and misleading picture a misinterpretation of the a a holocaust in addition to inflicting pain on jewish survivors and resistance  20 the stars and stripes t o monday september 19, 1994