Ernst leitz ii biography of christopher

Ernst inherited the Leica camera company from his father in From the beginning the company stood out for the compassionate way they treated their employees, many of whom were Jewish. Leica provided health insurance, sick leave and retirement pensions. After Hitler became Chancellor inthe Nuremberg laws were enacted, depriving German Jews of the rights of citizenship.

They were banned from schools professions, and lost many of their most basic freedoms. Ernst Leitz began receiving desperate calls from his Jewish employees, begging him to help them escape. Leitz hatched a brilliant plan.

Ernst leitz ii biography of christopher

The Freedom Train went on until when Germany effectively closed off its borders after the invasion of Poland. Unable to help more Jews escape Germany at this point in time, Ernst Leitz II began to help those who remained in as many secret ways as he could. He would purchase property from Jewish people well above the market value to assist them financially.

His compassion and bravery in the face of adversity are a testament to the best of humanity. His selfless assistance to many Jews serves as a reminder of the importance of standing up for what is right, no matter the cost. No one may ever really know how many Jews were saved by the actions of Ernst Leitz II and his ernst leitz ii biography of christopher.

Leitz never really wanted any credit for his actions, and only after the death of the last member of his family did the story of the Leica Freedom Train come to public knowledge. He was a Protestant Christian who was protected against any of the laws implemented against the Jews in Germany. Even in the darkest of times, he was willing to stand up for what was right and risk everything to help others.

Photography History. Feroz Khan. No Comments. Within days of Adolf Hitler coming to power inLeitz began undertaking humanitarian efforts for those in the city of Wetzlar negatively affected by the Nazi regime like Jews. There, many persecuted Jews were employed in the company's New York branch until they could find other jobs. For him it made no difference whether someone was Jewish or a political opponent of the Nazis; it was people he helped.

After the end of World War IIit became known that the Nazi regime had intended to eliminate the "disgusting democrat". Elsie was imprisoned for several months in the Gestapo prison in Frankfurt. Leitz was able to prevent her from being sent to a concentration camp. With Ernst Leitz, a person stands among us who embodies the word citizen, who is also a guarantor for others, most vividly as an example.

There were entrepreneurs who did everything to save Jewish employees and their families; great personalities and industrialists like Berthold Beitz, Robert Bosch, Ernst Leitz and Eduard Schulte. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item.

German entrepreneur and humanitarian. German Empire. West Germany. Life [ edit ]. Entrepreneurial risk [ edit ]. Nazi period [ edit ]. The industrialist was the producer of the legendary Leica camera but this story is little known. When Hitler became Chancellor, Ernst Leitz II, son of the founder of Optische Werke Ernst Leitz, he began to receive heartbreaking letters and phone calls from his Jewish collaborators who asked for help for themselves and their families.

Ernst Leitz II It was at this point that Leitz, of family is not Jewish and therefore not subject to the Nuremberg Laws, he decided to put in place a secret project, the Leica Freedom Train, to save as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution. The plan seemed simple enough, but if it was discovered, could lead to dramatic consequences for everyone involved.

Leitz helped many Jews to leave the country thanks to a seemingly simple motivation: moving abroad for work. The employees of his company, their families and sometimes even their friends were in fact "assigned" to Leitz sales departments, mainly located in the United States, France, England and Hong Kong. The efforts of Leitz intensified especially after Kristallnacht - The Night of Broken Glass - in November ofduring which many Jews were killed, while in Germany their buildings, shops and synagogues were looted and the flames.

Once in New York, the refugees were welcomed in offices and showroom Leitz on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, where they received help finding a job, a house and everything they need to start their new life. To those who encountered difficulties in finding a job was offered a living allowance. Among all these people, many became designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers, and even writers of books on photography.