Stephan Lewy (1925–2021) was born in Berlin to a Jewish father and Protestant mother. After his mother’s death in 1931, he was placed in the Baruch Auerbach orphanage when his father was unable to care for him.
Following Kristallnacht in 1938, Stephan’s family attempted to emigrate to the United States but was denied due to his father’s health. Fearing for Stephan’s safety, his father sent him on a Kindertransport, and the family lost contact.
Stephan spent four years in unoccupied France. His parents reached the United States in 1940, and he was able to rejoin them in 1942 through the American Red Cross at age seventeen. Shortly after his arrival, he was classified as an enemy alien.
At eighteen, he joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to a unit of German Jewish refugees known as the Ritchie Boys, trained in intelligence and psychological warfare. He served with the 6th Armored Division under General Patton, landed in France shortly after D-Day, and was present at the liberation of Buchenwald.
