Many Americans would not associate people of the Jewish faith with the Southern state of South Carolina. If you are one of these, prepare for the story of Max Heller.
Spouse and I visited Greenville, South Carolina in February of this year. Walking around downtown, I started to see plaques.
There were so many, all clustered together I decided to read them. I was immediately plunged into the story of Max Heller: immigrant from Austria, escapee from the Holocaust, businessman, city councilman, supporter of integration and eventually Mayor.
This mostly come about because of a chance meeting when Max Heller was 19, in 1937. He met a young women from Greenville at a dance and she gave him her address. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Max Heller was born in 1919 in Vienna, Austria. Growing up in an orthodox Jewish household with his older sister, his mother told him stories of her experiences with pogroms in Poland. His father owned a textile business but suffered during the Depression.
When the Germans occupied Austria in 1938, Heller's family knew they had to get out. Heller bought a German/English dictionary and wrote the young woman from Greenville, Mary Mills, whom he had met at that fateful dance. She agreed to help him get to the United States.
Mary helped get him and his family out, and also obtained jobs for him and his sister at a shirt factory once they reached the safety of Greenville. Much of Heller's extended family wasn't so fortunate. Between him and his wife (more on her below) they lost some 90 relatives in the Holocaust.
(You can read more about the history of the Jewish community in Greenville here.)
Max Heller married Trude Schonthal in Greenville on August 2, 1942.
Eventually, Max Heller became Mayor of Greenville. Many say he was responsible for the renewal of downtown Greenville I showed you in my "D" A to Z post. He fought for the desegregation of Greenville and led the way for the creation of Greenville's mass transit system. He also continued to battle antisemitism where he found it.
Trude Heller participated in many community and religious
organizations and won South Carolina's highest civilian honor, The Order
of the Palmetto. Also, Trude became a Holocaust educator and gave
talks to thousands of people, passing along her experiences and fighting
Holocaust denial.
Let Mr. Heller tell his story, if you are interested, through this 1998 interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I highly recommend it, although it is long.
Max Heller passed away in 2011 at the age of 92.
Trude Heller passed away at age 98 in May of 2021.
And Mary Mills, the woman who helped get Max and his family out of Austria? Apparently she remained friends with Max Heller but I can't seem to find any more information on her.
An amazing history that we all should know about.
"J" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday (although I admit, this wasn't exactly wordless).
A very touching story
ReplyDelete...never again.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful story
ReplyDeleteA beautiful slice of history. A terrible time. Never again indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
Hi Alana. I just have that sentence that they lost 90 relatives between them... it's turned my brain inside out, a different level of fortitude to be able to go on and make a new life after that huge trauma! - and not just that to contribute so substantially to the community. Inspirational and moving.
ReplyDeleteAll the very best to you for the challenge.
I agree it is veery touching and educational too
ReplyDeleteHave a tanfastictastic week Alana 👍
Leaving the world a little better. Great story.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice discovery while in South Carolina! I love reading happy endings. I always marvel when I read the stories of jews fortunate to escape Hitler's clutch. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteQuite an amazing story! I was expecting Mary to be his love interest -- but instead she played a major role in saving Max and his family and remaining a good friend. One never knows where such chance meetings will lead, even today. Thanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeleteWhat an inspiration, Max as well as Mary Mills, as she did something most people wouldn't have. To become mayor was quite an achievement for Max. The pain of losing so many family members, so hard to grasp. I hope, as Tom says, "never again," however, in today's climate...
ReplyDeleteYou might be surprised where you would find "people of the Jewish faith." I grew up in North Mississippi where they were a significant part of the community and where I was taught by several Jewish teachers. Moreover, stories similar to the one you highlight were a familiar part of some of their family histories.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh- I was born in 1942 and by the time I was 7 years old I was well aware of what was and had been happening in Europe thanks to Hitler. I then read the book The Diary of Anne Frank. I had been raised by my parents to not judge people by their faith , the color of their skin nor where they came from. I had several friends who were Jewish and was very upset to hear about what had happened to some of their family members. Thanks for this blog post- we must never ever forget.
ReplyDeleteOn my bucket list, I plan to attend a Jewish service.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is and stay safe.
an amazing and uplifting story
ReplyDeleteQuite an inspiring and amazing story of courage and fortitude!
ReplyDelete