I was born, the son of Jewish parents, in the city of Frankfurt on Main, in southwest Germany. My father, a successful insurance representative, was a loyal subject of the ruling house of the Hohenzollern and felt that he was a good German. My mother was an accomplished pianist. I was brought up in an atmosphere of culture, which actually took the place of religion. Our religious training was confined to two hours a week when a fine rabbinical teacher came to the school to give us basic training in Judaism. We were taught selected stories of the Old Testament, called the Tanaach, and some Scripture portions.

Every year on Good Friday I went to the concert hall to listen to one of the master works of music, "The Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, according to St. Matthew," by Bach. The best musicians took part. Many Jewish choir members sang in this oratorio, seemingly unconcerned as to its meaning.

When I was about 14, having arrived home from this oratorio, I began to think about Jesus. I read Matthew 26 and 27. Gradually the Person of Jesus of Nazareth came into focus. "This, indeed, was a great man, this man Jesus," I argued in myself, "a great example, a great teacher, a great prophet. Too bad that He had to die the death of a martyr; this could have been avoided." That He, the Son of God, had come down from heaven to take my place in the divine judgment of my sin of course did not enter my mind.

But where was I to turn? Was there any answer at all? Was there any meaning in life? Was there a God? The great question came to my mind "Where will I go after death? I thought the philosophers would have the answer. Finally I came, in one of Plato’s Dialogues, to the utterance of Socrates where he says: "I know that I know nothing." This was a great blow for me.  I would have to go through many more testings and trials before, in deepest night and desperation, the answer to all these questions would come from above.

Hitler appeared on the scene in 1923. By 1928, the National Socialist Party returned as the strongest party of the House. Eventually the old president, Marshall von Hindenburg, entrusted Hitler with the government of Germany. This happened on January 30, 1933.

Hitler proceeded with the segregation of the Jewish citizens of Germany, called the "cold persecution." The so-called "citizenship law" of the German nation decreed that only those were considered German citizens who had no "Jewish blood" in their veins.

The next step was "Name Legislation." The Jewish men had to add the name "Israel," and the Jewish women the name "Sarah." If Hitler had known their meanings, he would have chosen other names of shame. "Israel" means prince with God, and "Sarah," princess.