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Ursula Löwenbach

Ursula Löwenbach spent a lot of time with Hello Silberberg, who was friends with Anne Frank.

Person

  • Ursula Foster - Löwenbach
  • Hannover, Duitsland Jan. 12, 1927
  • Modesto, Californië, USA Aug. 9, 2004

Ursula Löwenbach was born 12 January 1927 in Hannover.[1] Her childhood was spent playing hopscotch, bicycling with older brother Ernst and walks in the park with her father, a  prosperous investment counselor who taught her chess.[2] In late March 1938, the family moved to Amsterdam-Zuid, in the same neighborhood as the Frank family.[1] Ursula was eleven years old at the time. In Amsterdam, she became acquainted with Hello Silberberg, who was also friends with Anne Frank for a while.[3] "She was very talkative. Very outgoing girl. The opposite of me," Ursula said years later.[2]

In July 1942, Ursula's brother Ernst answered the call to report for transport to Germany. According to Ursula, his parents begged him not to go and go into hiding, but Ernst replied that he was strong enough to survive the labour camp.[2] From Westerbork, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered on 30 September 1942.[4] Usula and her parents went into hiding in the summer of 1943. For nearly two years, they lived secretly in an overcrowded house with fourteen other Jewsand, and thus survived the war.[5] In September 1947 the three of them emigrated to Oakland, California.[1]

Ursula was married twice, first to Harry Lester, and then to Duane Eugene Foster. She had two children: son Clifford Lester from her first marriage, and a daughter. Son Cilfford is a photographer and taught photography at Cypress College.[6]

Ursula spent years speaking to thousands of American schoolchildren about her experiences during the Holocaust. Furthermore, she became one of America's most active tournament chess-playing women.[3] 

Ursula and Hello Silberberg saw each other again in the nineties in San Francisco.[2] She died in August 2004. In her memory and honour, her children, waaronder fotograaf en docent forografie Clifford Lester, established the Ursula Foster Holocaust Memorial Scholarship, in order to inspire students to learn more about discrimination and adversity.[7]

Source personal data.[1] Addresses: Roerstraat 106 I, Amsterdam (May ’38); United States (’47).[1]

Footnotes

  1. a, b, c, d, e Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Isidor Löwenbach.
  2. a, b, c, d Michael Fitzgerald, Diary of a chess mate, The Stockton Record, 9 januari 1999.
  3. a, b Ursula Löwenbach is abbreviated as Ursul by Anne Frank. See Diary Version A, 14 June 1942, 30 June 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Contiunuum, 2019.
  4. ^ Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Perseuction, Bad Arolsen, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek: DocID: 130336706 (Ernst S LÖWENBACH); Namensliste der jüdischen Opfer des NS-Regimes in den Niederlanden, 1941-1945, A-Z: DocID: 5151063.
  5. ^ Remember the Holocaust: In Loving Memory of Ursula Lowenbach Foster. Zie ook: Weinberghaus Varel, Heimbewohner des “Weinberghauses”, Bewohner bis zur zweiten Deportation im Juli 1942: Johanna Stein, geborene Löwenbach (1882-1942). Johanna Löwenbach was een zus van Ursula's vader.
  6. ^ Shedding light on history: Photographer’s portraits show toll of the Holocaust, The Orange County Register, 3 mei 2016; Photographer’s portraits tell Holocaust survivors’ stories, The Los Angles Times, 12 april 2018; Website: Clifford Lester Photography.
  7. ^ Cypress College: Ursula Lowenbach Foster Holocaust Memorial Scholarship; Cypress College Holocaust Education Program: Ursula Foster Lowenbach, YouTube, 8 juli 2024.
 
 
 
 

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