Frederick R. Homburger and
Lore Marck Homburger
Holocaust Survivors
Born in 1918, Fred Homburger was
the son of Herr Doktor Paul and Anna
Homburger, bankers in Karlsruhe,
Germany. Lore Marck was born and grew
up in Mannheim, Germany, the daughter
of Herr Doktor Marck, an attorney
and Mrs. Marck, a homemaker.
Banking was a longstanding family business
and the privately owned
Homburger Bank that
Fred’s family ran
was taken over by
the Nazis
during WWII
as their
headquarters.
Homburger Bank - early 20th century (left)
Today, a plaque on the building of the
Homburger Bank tells of its history. (right)
F
red remembers his childhood home
life as very comfortable, with
his parents and his brother. The
extended family lived nearby. Social
contact among Jews and non-Jews were
maintained until 1933, when restrictions for
Jews began. At that time 3,358 Jews lived in
Karlsruhe. Fred wrote, I “clearly remember
the abuses suffered on Monday afternoon,
January 30, 1933, when the gym teacher
arrived in SS uniform for the first time.”
Fred continued at the school for two years
before leaving for Switzerland in 1935.
On Kristallnacht, November 9–10, 1938
synagogues were destroyed and his father
and uncle were deported to Dachau. A
month later, they were released when they
agreed to liquidate the bank.
I
n 1940, after 5 years in Switzerland,
Fred emigrated to New York City.
On October 22, 1940, 895 Jews were
expelled and interned by the French Vichy
authorities in Gurs labor camp in France.
From New York, Fred worked to get six
family members out of Gurs, including his
father. Of the six, one died in the camp but
the other five arrived in New York in 1941.
In 1943, Fred was drafted into the U.S.
Army and was shipped to England in 1944.
He landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy in
early July. He was discharged in 1946 after
the war ended. He married Lore Marck in
New York and they moved to Lancaster, PA
where he continued his engineering career.
In 1942 most of the Jews in Gurs were deported to
Auschwitz. By 1945, 18 Jews were left in Karlsruhe.
Lore and Fred in Their Younger Years
Lore emigrated to America via England, and
moved to New York. Her father and Fred’s
father, Dr. Paul Homburger, were in the same
English class. Lore was having a party and her
father asked Paul to invite his son, Fred. There
they met, married, and re-located to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. They made their home there
and raised their two children, Eve and Frank,
making sure to always remember their past.
The Homburger Reunion
Estes Park, Colorado
Fred always said that he felt as if they
were the “sandwich generation” and
hoped that Eve and Frank would lead
healthy, happy lives and perpetuate
the Homburger name...the family,
though scattered throughout the
country, get together for a reunion every year!