Tag Archives: holocaust

Lockdown 1942, Lockdown 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Suzanne Loebl

For me, the current lockdown is a vivid reminder of the two years I spent as a “hidden child” in Belgium during World War II. Actually, I was neither a child nor confined to my quarters like that other, very … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history | Tagged coronavirus, covid-19, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, quarantine, world war ii | 4 Comments

Refugee, But Not Forever

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Suzanne Loebl

The other evening, after a satisfying dinner, I was lazily surfing the net when I came across a photo of a beach filled with Syrian refugees running across the sand, trying to climb aboard a rickety ship. Suddenly my heart … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history, politics | Tagged belgium, brussels, d-day, dunkirk evacuation, family, family stories, france, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, miracle of dunkirk, nazi germany, nazis, new york, new york city, refugees, world war ii, wwii | 11 Comments

Trump and the Bully Pulpit

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Suzanne Loebl

Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0) As of today, Donald Trump has won a virtually unobstructed path to the Republican nomination. The grandstanding and uncouth utterances of the Republican campaign over the last few months remind me of the tirades … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged adolf hitler, donald trump, election, election 2016, fascism, hitler, holocaust, nazi germany, nazis, nazism, politics, presidential election, republican party, republicans, trump, world war ii, world war ii history | 1 Comment

Farewell to Babeth, My First True Friend

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

“Triste nouvelle,” read my May 22nd e-mail from Francine Bauduin, informing me that my friend Babeth (Elisabeth Wolff) had died. The picture of the old woman that accompanied the loving announcement marked the passage of a lifetime. To me Babeth … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged at the mercy of strangers, babeth wolff, belgium, brussels, elisabeth wolff, hidden children, holocaust, nazi germany, world war ii | 2 Comments

Returning to Brussels, the City That Saved My Life 70 Years Ago

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

My family has always traveled on its stomach. So it was no surprise that when in March 2015 I took my granddaughter, Branching editor Naomi, to revisit my Belgian roots, we would eat well. Our culinary exploits started well. After … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged belgium, brussels, europe, family, family stories, family story, food, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, jewish history, judaism, restaurants, travel, world war ii | 3 Comments

Manhattan’s 86-Year Old Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) School

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

The other day I hurried along East 79th Street on my way to the Met Museum when I glimpsed a likeness of Leonardo da Vinci paired with the promise of teaching the principles of the Italian Renaissance to children in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anthroposophy, education, educational philosophies, eurhythmics, german jewish history, german jews, germany, hidden children, holocaust, jewish history, learning disability, liberal education, nazi germany, pedagogy, rudolf steiner, rudolf steiner schools, steiner schools, waldorf schools, world war ii | Leave a comment

World War I: August 3, 1914: Germany Invades Belgium

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

World War II defined my life, but it was actually a continuation of World War I, whose 100th birthday we “celebrate” this year. The hostilities took a while to get underway. They began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history | Tagged Archduke Franz Ferdinand, battle of yser, belgium, france, german jews, germany, hidden children, history, holocaust, jewish history, nazi germany, Suzanne Daley, world war i, world war i history, world war ii, world war ii history, Yser | 1 Comment

The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Being Polyglot

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

In April 2014 my husband and I decided to vacation in France. We spent a few days in Paris, visited with some friends in Normandy and then boated up the Rhône and Saone in the Buri, owned by Viking River … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged belgium, columbia university, family stories, first language, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, immigrants, immigration, immigration stories, jewish history, judaism, languages, multilingual, multilingualism, nazi germany, new york city, polyglot, second language, third language, viking river cruises, world war ii, writing | 3 Comments

D-Day, June 6, 1944: Seventy Years Later

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

Listening to the BBC radio was strictly illegal in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Still, within hours everyone in Brussels knew that the Allied Forces had finally debarked in Normandy on June 6th. We had been waiting for that day for more than four … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged allies, d-day, german jews, hidden children, history, holocaust, june 6, normandy, world war ii, world war ii history | 9 Comments

Degenerate Art: Exhibition at the Neue Galerie and my Family

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

In addition to its Jews, gypsies, mentally ill, and gays, Nazi Germany decided to rid its homeland of the “alleged horrors” perpetrated by its own writers and artists. Specially chosen “experts” plundered Germany’s museums and private collections and confiscated, sold … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review, family stories | Tagged art, bauhaus, christian rohlfs, cornelius gurlitt, current exhibitions, dante alighieri, dante's inferno, degenerate art, degenerate art exhibition, divine comedy, ernst barlach, francesca da rimini, georg grosz, german expressionism, german expressionists, german jews, hermann lismann, hildebrand gurlitt, holocaust, modern art, nazi germany, neue galerie, nyc art exhibits, nyc exhibits, nyc museums, paolo malatesta | 1 Comment