Because my thesis was so document heavy, it was easy to forgot the people I was writing about had a personality. It was very difficult to determine the type of person Oscar was through three letters he wrote while in a concentration camp. Seeing him through this new lens has really changed my perception of Oscar. I used to think of him as this stern, near emotionless figure, but looking at these photographs I am so wrong. He is smiling in nearly every photo, and that just brings a smile to my face.

Oscar is seated, interlocking arms with two friends.

(click the photo to enlarge)

Not since the tombstones of the very first von Halles have I found a document in Hebrew.

The von Halle side was seemingly lax on religion. There are no records of belonging to a synagogue. Henriette’s side, however, was more religious. This contract is evidence of such piety. The wedding was located in Berlin, Henriette’s hometown.

My grandfather never mentioned attending temple as a child. In fact, it was not until after the Holocaust that my grandfather truly found his faith. Not once, in any interview or personal interaction with him, did my grandfather say he put faith in God. The only time he mentioned saying prayers was at the insistance of his deeply devout Christian harborers while in hiding.