Also:
War ends in Germany: the Jewish families of Themar
War ends in Europe: one Jewish family’s experience

In May 1945, when the war in Europe ended, at least 205 members of the Jewish families of Themar were to be found in places around the world. This table identifies who and where these men, women, and children were.

The photos at top and bottom capture some of them and their descendants some decades later.

The three maps identify where they were:

• a number, statistically insignificant perhaps, but highly important in understanding the dynamics of the small city of Themar, were in Germany as well as in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, liberated by the Russian army on 8 May 1945.
• a second cluster, also statistically insignificant, were in European countries, some formerly occupied by the Nazi regime, and all threatened by Nazi power as long as the war raged on
• a large cluster, statistically overwhelming, were in continents far flung throughout the world.

The following pages tell the stories of these families as far as we can discover their traces 80 years after the end of the war in Europe.

Map 1: Germany in May 1945

Map 2: Europe in May 1945

Map 1: World in May 1945