2006-01-30 Behrendt obituary
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Oregon
Eugene
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Eddie Behrendt, founder of U.S. Kindertransport Assn. dies at age 75 in Oregon jewishsightseeing.com, January 24, 2006 |
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2006-01-30 Behrendt obituary |
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Eddy Behrendt, founder and first president of the U.S.-based Kindertransport
Association, a group established in 1989, died Nov. 9, 2005 in Eugene, Oregon,
of multiple organ failure, his wife, Sarah announced. A notice released by Mrs. Behrendt reported: "Born January 30 in Danzig, Eddy, at the age of 9, escaped from the Nazi Holocaust in one of the Kindertransports, a rescue operation for Jewish children, primarily from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia that was implemented between November 1938 and September 1939. Approximately 10,000 Jewish children were allowed to leave for Great Britain in sealed trains, without their parents. Upon arrival in England, they were distributed among families or children's homes, although some went to work on farms. Upon reaching 18, the older ones served in the British armed forces. After the war, most of the 'children' remained in the U.K., although some later left for Canada, the United States and Israel. The majority of the Kindertransport children never saw their parents again. "Eddy lived in England until he was 16, spent a brief period of time in Palestine (now Israel) and then came to America to be with his father, who had, in the meanwhile, survived the Holocaust and immigrated to New York "In addition to holding an undergraduate and graduate degree, Eddy served four years in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict as a member of the Trust Tankers stationed in Trieste, Italy. In 1993, he retired as senior director of corporate personnel with American Home Products (Wyeth) Corporation. He and his wife, Sarah, moved to the Phoenix, Scottsdale area where he served on the board of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association. In 1995, they settled in Eugene, Oregon, where Eddy founded the "Reach and Teach" program, traveling across the country for over four years, teaching about the Holocaust and related events. Through computer technology, Eddy reached several thousand students. "He served as an advisor to the Committee on the Genocide and
Intolerance of the National Council of Teachers in English and presented various
papers on Holocaust education worldwide.
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