Artifacts - Fred Westfield

Fred Westfield's ID card issued in 1938. The large letter J can be seen on the left, which stood for Jude, or Jew. When given such identity cards, all Jews were given a new name: Israel for boys, and Sara for girls. On August 17, 1938, German officials decided that Jews in Germany must assume these new names by January 1, 1939. Westfield's real name was Fritz Meinhard Westfield.

Family portrait of Fred Westfield, showing from left to right, clockwise, his Uncle Max, mother Grete, father Dietrich, Aunt Rosel, cousin Hannah, brother Erich, Grandmother Jenny, brother Michael, and Fred, when he was originally called Fritz. The family is pictured in front of their house in Essen, Germany, in 1936, right before Erich left for the U.S.

Fred Westfield, pictured in 1939, as a 12 yr old boy looking out of a railroad car window before his train's departure.