Shedding Our Stars: The Story of Hans Calmeyer and How He Saved Thousands of Families Like Mine

About Karen KirtleyLaureen Nussbaum

Born in 1927 in Frankfurt Laureen Nussbaum was the middle daughter of the Klein family. When she was eight the Kleins left Hitlers Germany and settled in Amsterdam close to Anne Frank and her family old friends from Frankfurt. When Hans Calmeyer the German official in charge of dubious cases decided in favor of their petition to be considered non-Jews and Nussbaums mother and sisters were allowed to shed their yellow stars her father living in a privileged mixed marriage was not deported. In 1957 Nussbaum and her husband Rudi moved to the United States and eventually settled in Portland OR where Rudi joined the faculty of Portland State University (PSU). There Nussbaum went back to school and subsequently got her PhD in German Language and Literature at the University of Washington. She joined the faculty of PSU published dozens of academic papers and eventually retired as a full professor. In 2012 after her husbands death she moved to Seattle. Karen Kirtley is a freelance editor and writer and avid music lover. She served as editorial director of Amadeus Press for several years where she helped journalist Richard Newman put together the breathtaking biography Alma Rose: Vienna to Auschwitz (Amadeus Press 2000). Kirtley lives in Portland OR.