Alice Kraus (Hand)
| Born: |
10-30-1912 |
| Faculty: |
Medical School | Medical University Vienna |
| Category: |
Expelled student |
Alice KRAUS (married: HAND), born on October 30
th, 1912 in Vienna (entitled residency ('heimatberechtigt') for Vienna/Austria, citizenship: Austria), daughter of Friedrich Kraus (1875-1943, salesman) and Rosa Kraus (née Hoffenreich, 1870-1942), lived in Vienna's 2
nd district, Czerningasse 23/22, was enrolled finally in spring term 1938 at the Medical School in the 4
th year of her studies.
In 1938, after the takeover of power of National-Socialism she was forced to quit her studies for racist reason and to leave the University of Vienna (leaving certificate ("Abgangszeugnis") was issued on June 27
th, 1938).
Alice Kraus had already obtained an entry visa at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna on February 11
th, 1938, and after Dr. Samuel G. Shepherd (1880-1971) and his wife Jeannette (née Adler) of 2039 Pine Street Philadelphia Pennsylvania issued affidavits to her and her brother, she was able to flee on December 16
th, 1938. She left Austria, travelled to Rotterdam/Netherlands and took the SS Noordam on December 24
th, 1938. She arrived in New York City, NY/USA on January 1
st, 1939. She was unable to continue or complete her medical studies and became a medical secretary for many years in the practice of Dr. Joseph B. Wolffe.
Most of her family was not able to escape in time: Brother Hugo Kraus (1899-1942) was murdered in Maly Trostinec [Малы Трасцянец/Belarus] on September 14
th, 1942, her father perished in Theresienstadt [Terezín/Czech Republic] on June 5
th, 1943, and her older sisters Martha Kraus (1905-1944), Irene Kraus (1903-1944), and Johanna Kraus (1901-1944) were murdered in Auschwitz [Oświęcim/Poland] in October 1944. Only her brother Richard Kraus (1897-1961) also managed to escape to the USA in 1939 and survived.
Alice Kraus married Walter Raymond Hand (1910-1998) on September 6
th, 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had a daughter (Susan), several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and lived at 848 Edmonds Ave, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, later in Media, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA.
Alice Hand submitted an application for compensation for educational losses to the General Relief Fund in Vienna in 1962.
Alice Hand, née Kraus died at the age of 98 on February 15
th, 2011 in Media, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and is burried at Montefiore Cemetery in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania/USA.
Lit: Archive of the University of Vienna/enrollment form ("Nationale" MED 1937-1938; POSCH/INGRISCH/DRESSEL 2008, 422; www.ancestry.de; Passagierlisten-Datenbank Ellis Island; Yad Vashem | Shoah Victims' Names; information from Dr. Barbara Sauer, Vienna 03/2021.
Herbert Posch
