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Confermation Day
Voss was 12 years old when the Nazis came to Germany for Confermation Day. -
Where he grew up in Germany
Voss grew up in Aachen western Germany, not far from the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, and had normal childhood before his world came crashing down the day of his bar mizvah in 1933. -
Voss and his family struggles
When the family returned home after the ceremony, soldiers barred the way. That began a six-year struggle for Voss and his family. He was beaten by members of the Hitler Youth and forbidden from going to school. The family home and textile store were destroyed during the infamous Kristallnacht. His father was sent toa a concentration camp for two months. " The Nazis took everything," Voss said. " We had 30 days to get out." -
How Voss escaped
Though 67 members of his and his future wife's family were killed, Voss escaped to England with his parents in early 1939, just months before Germany invaded Poland, starting World War 2. -
When they got out of Europe
In 1940, the family moved to New York City. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Fred enlisted in the Army and was sent back to Europe, taking part in the liberation of Paris and later helping to remove mines the Nazis had left behind in his homeland. -
Years after the holocaust
Though Voss did receive his GED through Operation Recognition, a goverment program for veterans, this diploma is very special to everybody, including voss's 91-year-old wife, Ilse, whom he met in London during the war when their refugee families shared the same boarding house. She had beed forced out of her home in Austria and never received he high school diploma.
