The condition of their exit visa out of German-occupied territory was that they take no valuables, just clothes and a few personal effects. This put them in a bind. They had an entrance visa to the United States, but without cash or valuables they wouldn't be able to pay the fares to get there, much less set up a new life. My grandfather was an engineer. He modified their car with a few secret compartments to hold jewelry and cash. They started in Prague and drove to Trieste. This was in late May or early June of 1939, so by this time Germany has annexed most of Czechoslovakia and all of Austria. In their photo album, this is the picture before the one above. The car was searched a few times during their journey, which I'm sure was terrifying. My grandmother took this photo just after they crossed the southern Austrian border. They must have felt immense relief.
Edit: Some of you have asked what came next. They were fine. They got on this ship in Trieste. They sailed on it to New York Harbor. They made a new life. My mom went to Harvard-Radcliffe and my uncle went to MIT. They prospered and had kids and grandkids.
Edit2: Some of you are assuming they were Jewish. They weren't. They were parents with young children living in a city invaded by a foreign army. They left because they could. The night German tanks rolled into the street outside their window, my grandparents decided a woman would have a better chance escaping arrest than a man, so my grandmother set out on foot for the American embassy while my grandfather stayed home with the kids. At 3am, she was one of the first in line. By the time the embassy opened at 8am, the line was so long she couldn't see the end. Most of those people didn't get visas, but she was one of the lucky ones that did.
Edit3: A couple of you are wondering why they were allowed to take their car. It was because they couldn't get an exit visa from the Germans allowing them to immigrate, but they could get a tourist visa. They could take sufficient spending money to fund a car trip, but not their nest egg. They only packed seasonally appropriate clothes and took care to leave family photos in their apartment to give the impression they were coming back.
Edit4: A couple have asked what they did with the car. They took it to America!
Edit5: Some have asked if they ever went back. They did. After the war they went back for a couple of years because my grandfather felt it was his duty to help rebuild Czechoslovakia. All of their friends who had been plump were emaciated. All of their friends who had been slim had starved to death. In 1948 Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and they left for good. For the rest of his life, my grandfather would urge my mom to overeat. It made him nervous that she wanted the slim figure of an American woman. He wanted her to be plump, because you never know.
Edit6: Something no one has asked, but a thing that is pretty cool: the apartment is still in our family. It was chopped up by the communists into smaller apartments, but relatives still live in pieces of it. I've taken my kids to visit it and shown them the windows where my mother looked out and saw Nazi tanks when she was a little girl.
Edit7: One last thing about the car, and then I have to go to bed: /u/Tim_Buk2 is a genius and found a Skoda publicity still taken of their car. This isn't just the same year and model. The plates match. It's the same car. This isn't as unlikely as it seems, because my grandfather was a Skoda executive until they left. Still, amazing. I can't wait to show my mom and uncle in the morning.
TooShiftyForYou on April 24th, 2017 at 20:40 UTC »
Grandpa is doing a great job of distracting the kids from the truly awful situation.
dFpiuwhiPvv2J1DnJ on April 24th, 2017 at 21:07 UTC »
Some background:
The condition of their exit visa out of German-occupied territory was that they take no valuables, just clothes and a few personal effects. This put them in a bind. They had an entrance visa to the United States, but without cash or valuables they wouldn't be able to pay the fares to get there, much less set up a new life. My grandfather was an engineer. He modified their car with a few secret compartments to hold jewelry and cash. They started in Prague and drove to Trieste. This was in late May or early June of 1939, so by this time Germany has annexed most of Czechoslovakia and all of Austria. In their photo album, this is the picture before the one above. The car was searched a few times during their journey, which I'm sure was terrifying. My grandmother took this photo just after they crossed the southern Austrian border. They must have felt immense relief.
Edit: Some of you have asked what came next. They were fine. They got on this ship in Trieste. They sailed on it to New York Harbor. They made a new life. My mom went to Harvard-Radcliffe and my uncle went to MIT. They prospered and had kids and grandkids.
Edit2: Some of you are assuming they were Jewish. They weren't. They were parents with young children living in a city invaded by a foreign army. They left because they could. The night German tanks rolled into the street outside their window, my grandparents decided a woman would have a better chance escaping arrest than a man, so my grandmother set out on foot for the American embassy while my grandfather stayed home with the kids. At 3am, she was one of the first in line. By the time the embassy opened at 8am, the line was so long she couldn't see the end. Most of those people didn't get visas, but she was one of the lucky ones that did.
Edit3: A couple of you are wondering why they were allowed to take their car. It was because they couldn't get an exit visa from the Germans allowing them to immigrate, but they could get a tourist visa. They could take sufficient spending money to fund a car trip, but not their nest egg. They only packed seasonally appropriate clothes and took care to leave family photos in their apartment to give the impression they were coming back.
Edit4: A couple have asked what they did with the car. They took it to America!
Edit5: Some have asked if they ever went back. They did. After the war they went back for a couple of years because my grandfather felt it was his duty to help rebuild Czechoslovakia. All of their friends who had been plump were emaciated. All of their friends who had been slim had starved to death. In 1948 Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and they left for good. For the rest of his life, my grandfather would urge my mom to overeat. It made him nervous that she wanted the slim figure of an American woman. He wanted her to be plump, because you never know.
Edit6: Something no one has asked, but a thing that is pretty cool: the apartment is still in our family. It was chopped up by the communists into smaller apartments, but relatives still live in pieces of it. I've taken my kids to visit it and shown them the windows where my mother looked out and saw Nazi tanks when she was a little girl.
Edit7: One last thing about the car, and then I have to go to bed: /u/Tim_Buk2 is a genius and found a Skoda publicity still taken of their car. This isn't just the same year and model. The plates match. It's the same car. This isn't as unlikely as it seems, because my grandfather was a Skoda executive until they left. Still, amazing. I can't wait to show my mom and uncle in the morning.
Tim_Buk2 on April 25th, 2017 at 02:36 UTC »
Interestingly, your grandfather's car was photographed in New York and used in a Skoda publicity shot
as found in this official Skoda PDF entitled History through the lens.
https://media.skoda-auto.com/en/Files/%C5%A0KODA%20History%20through%20the%20lens.pdf