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Heinrich Ross was born on August 10, 1870 in Rokytno, Austria-Hungary (now a part of the Czech-Republic). Sometime around 1905-07, he began work at the Rotophot postcard publishing company in Berlin, Germany. He started the postcard company that bore his name, Ross Verlag, in 1919.
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Unfortunately, Mr. Ross was the head of a Jewish business during the Nazi era in Germany. After Adolph Hitler came into power in 1933, the persecution of the Jews in Germany began. In 1935, they were stripped of their citizenship. By 1937, Ross Verlag was no longer in its founder's control, having been forced out by the National Socialists through their Arisierung (Aryanization) program (no Jews could own a business.) Interestingly enough, they retained the Ross Verlag name until 1941 (just before the Nazi's implementation of "The Final Solution.") Perhaps the name did not seem too Jewish (since it also meant "horse" in German), and the business was so well known and apparently prosperous under the Ross name. Heinrich, who was widowed at this time, sent his daughter, Edith, and son, Egon, over to America in 1938, and then attempted to join them a year later. Heinrich Ross boarded the passenger ship the S.S. St. Louis in Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939. The ship was bound for Cuba with 937 passengers, most of them German Jews. When they arrived at their destination, the Cuban government refused to allow the passengers to disembark. After many unsuccessful attempts, they next tried to dock in the USA. The United States goverment also refused them entry into the country. Both countries had immigration quotas that had already been filled. Having nowhere else to go, the St. Louis and it's passengers were forced to head back to Europe. They disembarked in Belgium. The passengers were split up into four groups and granted refugee status in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and England. When war was declared with Germany in each of these countries, many of these same German Jews who had been forced to flee their country because of persecution, were considered enemy aliens and were placed in internment camps. When Germany took over France, Belgium and the Netherlands, many of them were put in concentration camps and later into extermination camps. Around 254 of the former St. Louis passengers perished in the Holocaust. | |
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Luckily for Heinrich Ross, he was among the group of 276 passengers of the St. Louis who had been allowed to go to England as refugees, where they were able to avoid further German persecution. Heinrich spent three years in England, probably supported by the Jewish Refugee Committee. Finally, in 1942, he boarded the passenger ship the S.S. Pacific and crossed the Atlantic to America. He listed his nationality as "stateless," a man without a country. The ship docked in New York City on October 29. Heinrich's daughter Edith was married to the Metropolitan Opera singer Gerhard Pelcher, and they resided in New York City at the time. Mr. Ross joined them there. Eventually, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where his son Egon was living. Reportedly, at the age of 73, Heinrich started working again in a machine shop, until he was 84 years old. In 1945 he was living in an apartment in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. His son, Egon, lived until 1978 and died in the Chicago area. Thanks to Werner Mohr, an online forum with Detlef Krenz, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for much of the above information. | |
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