TRACES, a group focussed on the history of German immigrant experiences in the U.S. announces an upcoming program on U.S. WWII internment in Germany. Michael Luick-Thrams, executive director, announces the events below.
Press release:
It was wartime on the US home front. She was an American—wasn’t she? Anneliese had been born in New York, of German-immigrant parents (one already naturalized, one awaiting that). As citizens, the eight-year-old girl, her older brother Freddie and her Waldorf-hotel salad-chef mother “should” have been guaranteed due process when “Lee’s” father was interned as a suspected traitor—but they were not. Instead, they “voluntarily” took residence at Camp Crystal City, until they, too, were “repatriated” and forcibly sent to Europe, where the family was traded for Axis-held US nationals… and then the Wiegands’ adventure really started!
At the end of September and beginning of October 2019, Lee will visit Meiningen to speak at a school, as well as visit her old “stamping grounds” where her deported family found a home. Sponsored by Spuren e.V. (www.TRACES.org), she welcomes interviews: 0049.176.34 38 70 65 or contact her directly at .
About the speaker:
Anneliese “Lee” [Wiegand] Krauter was born to a German immigrant family in New York. During World War II, her family was detained in the civilian internment camp at Crystal City, Texas: A short US government 1945-46 color film about the camp is at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfSHgdh2UA&feature=youtu.be
They were “repatriated” and sent to the Third Reich, where the family found a haven in her father’s hometown, Meiningen. Just in front of the Red Army, they fled to Bavaria, where she met her future husband, Joe Krauter, a soldier with the occupying American forces. They married, then went to his native Indiana, where Lee still lives.
An honor student in both American and German schools, Lee attended the High School of Music & Art in New York City and earned a Certificate in Business from the Private Handelsschule Sabel in Munich, Germany, later taking courses in creative writing and journalism at Indiana University, Purdue University, Indianapolis.
After one of her sons was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, she spent years volunteering with the American Diabetes Association, serving in both local and national positions. She earned many awards in the Association and was named National Outstanding Affiliate Volunteer of the Year in 1990. She was also appointed to the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., for service on the National Diabetes Advisory Board. She functioned as a layperson representing the diabetes community, speaking on behalf of families living with Type I (Juvenile) Diabetes.
Lee has spoken about her life as a child in America and Germany to many school and adult audiences and has been a volunteer educator on living with diabetes in schools in Indiana. Her book, “From the Heart’s Closet: A Young Girl’s World War II Story,” describes in detail her life in two countries, during both wartime and peacetime. See: http://www.theschatzipress.com/ and https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/texas-story-project/nicole-johnson-crystal-city