(German Jewish newspaper published in New York)
July 10, 1942
(Original, in German, Translated by Rosemarie Birman)
Hut ab vor Edwin Van D'Elden Take Off Your Hat to Mr. Van D'Elden
by: Mr. Max Behrens
On July 16th the former Secretary (Geschaeftsfuehrer)
of the American Chamber of Commerce, Edwin Van D'Elden,
who arrived on the s/s Drottningholm from Germany a few
weeks ago, will speak at the New World Club. If all
the refugees whom Van D'Elden helped pave the way to
America would attend, then the big ballroom at the
Hotel Empire would by far not be able to accommodate them.
It is now exactly three years that I--having been in a Nazi concentration camp for 32 months--went to see the American in his office in the (Frankfurt) exhibition complex. The Gestapo had told me "if you are not able to get a foreign visa within eight days, we will have to put you back into the concentration camp, but this time you will not be let out again".
And now I stood in front of Edwin Van D'Elden, without hope, the horror of the imprisonment fresh in my memory. I told Van D'Elden that I wanted to see the Consul General in Stuttgart on the following day about my US visa: without an appointment, without a quota number, without money.
When the compassionate American started to speak to me, I became more confident. "I know the consul" he said "I will give you a letter of commendation." He sat down and wrote everything praiseworthy that he could think of.
Suddenly he paused and began a spontaneous, blazing accusatory speech against the (Nazi) regime and its representatives. He spoke ever louder and more excitedly, then suddenly went to the door and pulled it open and, as he had expected, there stood an intensely eaves dropping Nazi, who immediately took off. At that time I believed that this spy would try to do harm to Van D'Elden, but luckily my assumption was wrong.
The next morning I stood in front of the Consulate General (in Stuttgart) with hundreds who had the same desire as I did. "Where is your appointment notice?" I was asked. "I don't have any."--"Then you go back to Frankfurt and wait till you get called; this will at most take three to four months."
In my desperation I handed him the letter of commendation from Van D'Elden. He took this to the Consul, returned in no more than one half minute and asked me to come in. Within two hours everything was arranged and I was the happiest man in the world. The next ship already brought me to the land of freedom, where many, many of my acquaintances sang the praises of the kind man Edwin Van D'Elden, who saved them.
Many weeks later I received a letter from my daughter in Frankfurt. It began like this: "My dear good Papa! Today I visited Mr. Van D'Elden. What a wonderful man he is...!"
Max Behrens
