Students of the History Workshop at the Lessing Realschule in Freiburg are exploring the life of Kurt Lion.
Since 2001, Rosita Dienst-Demuth has been researching the history of the former forced school for Jewish children (1936–1940), which operated with two classes at the Lessing Boys’ School. The stories of 80 individuals have been documented to varying extents and are available on the History Workshop’s website.
Kurt Lion, born in Ihringen am Kaiserstuhl, attended the forced school and was deported to Gurs at the age of 14. While imprisoned in the Rivesaltes camp, he endured the loss of his father. Nine and a half months later, he said a final goodbye to his mother, who was deported to Auschwitz and murdered there. In 1942, Kurt managed to escape from a French internment camp. Although he was discovered and re-arrested, he escaped once again and, at just 16, joined the French partisans.
During his time with the Résistance, Kurt Lion protected and saved Walter Bloch, a former schoolmate from Freiburg, who survived by hiding in the forest.
As the war neared its end, Kurt Lion’s unit advanced into Alsace, passing through the liberated Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. The horrors he witnessed there haunted him for the rest of his life, remaining incomprehensible and impossible to fully reconcile.
Kurt Lion passed away in 2011 in New Jersey, where he lived with his wife. Together, they had three children and one grandchild.
Today, a tree in the courtyard of the Lessing Realschule stands as a tribute to the quiet heroes who risked their lives to save nearly all the pupils of the former Freiburg forced school for Jewish children from the Baden region. In the case of Kurt Lion, the persecuted teenager himself became a rescuer. His extraordinary act of courage, along with those of others, is inscribed on the school’s “Plaque for Quiet Heroes.” While creating lively storyboards with Sandra Butsch, one student remarked, “This is the least we can do.” Another added, “He was so brave and strong. That’s who I want to be.”
