October 2, 1939: Climate Change

October 2, 1939.

Phil Myers
1722 E. Gordon Street.
McPherson, Kansas.

Re. Thomas Doeppner

Dear Phil Myers:

      I don't know just when the "Volendam" will arrive in New York, but I know that Thomas Doeppner will want to come out to McPherson immediately.
      I have sent a letter to him at Ellis Island and I will ask him further to let you know the time of his arrival in McPherson.
     I have not any worth while suggestions about the courses for him to take. I think that will have to be worked out after he comes. I suggest that he ought not to try to carry too heavy a load. I think he should take an American History course if it can be worked in at all, and of course, English. My only other suggestion would be to remember always how strange everything here will be to him at first. It is hard to realize just how strange our customs and ways of doing things are to an European. It will probably take a little while for him to get adjusted to our climate and food, to say nothing of our strange customs. I am afraid I won't meet him before he goes West but I will be eager to hear how he gets along. 

Sincerely,

Charlotte S. Salmon
Placement Worker

I love Charlotte. She writes Phil Myers back an honest response to his last letter asking about how they can best welcome and ease Opa’s transition to College, Kansas, the USA.

Charlotte responds to his request for further details on Opa’s arrival time- to put it simply: Who Knows? Charlotte knows better than most just how chaotic that arrival can be, and how plans can change with the smallest obstacle. She tries to give Phil a taste of this and encourages him with her insistence that Opa will try to get to McPherson as soon as possible.

Then, with compassion, she encourages Phil to wait until Opa arrives to make final plans for his class schedule, except that it would be best to keep it light and include English and American History. These classes are of course to help Opa adjust to the language and culture of America. I love how Charlotte reminds Phil how this boy will be adjusting to his new home. It will be a total immersion into all things unfamiliar: food, customs, language, climate, etc. She seems genuinely disappointed that she won’t be able to meet Opa before he travels to Kansas. She will definitely be checking in.

I’m thinking about my trip to Germany and my trip to Kansas. I know that my brief visits to both places are not the same as growing up in either place and then being transplanted in the other. However, I will say that of all places for Opa to go, Kansas was probably one of the better fits. The folks in the south would have been overwhelmingly emotive and touchy-feely and loud. The folks up North perhaps also too loud, but in a different way. Kansas folks have a reserved sense about them that may have felt familiar to Opa, from stoic Germany. Kansas folks work hard and are determined. These were pioneers who staked a claim on wasteland and made it a farm, then stuck it out when that farm turned to dust. Opa was entering into the tail end of the Dust Bowl. He was about to meet some of the toughest Americans there were. These were no wealthy aristocrats. I think Opa’s hardship was very different, but there was some common survival instinct here. At this juncture, I think that Opa and the Kansas farmers will actually get along just fine.

The biggest adjustment I imagine, funnily enough: the weather and landscape. Oh, I know that all the other stuff is a big deal, but I’m just imagining that first glance at the western frontier with Amsterdam and Berlin in his mind. I can just imagine Opa’s thoughts: “Where are all the buildings? I can see for miles! Where are the hills?!” The violent storms, the parched ground, the endless horizon of dirt and wheat. I can’t imagine the shock of change. 

a panoramic picture I snapped outside our trailer in Kansas August 2014- endless sky

So Charlotte has it right- everything will be strange to him at first, and if nothing else, it will do well to remember that what Phil and his friends at McPherson know to be everyday life, will be as foreign to this young student as he will be to them.

September 29, 1939: Reliable Reporting

e

Transcription:

Doeppner To Come To McPherson Soon

Refugee Student Finally Secures Visa For Trip From European Officials

   Thomas Doeppner, McPherson college's non-Aryan refugee student from Berlin, has obtained a passport in Holland, a letter from Refugee Section of the American Friends Committee assures, and he will arrive here the middle of October.
   Doeppner's cable to the committee said he got the visa and would leave October the seventh on the Volendam. The committee will see that he is met at the boat and will get him to Kansas immediately.
   The month and a half of back studies will keep him busy for awhile.
   Charlotte S. Salmon, placement worker for the committee, said in the letter. "We surely appreciate your patience and your cooperation in putting this thing through".

I love the Spectator, McPherson College’s newspaper. I want the Spectator to report on all news. They are short, to the point, and accurate. It’s impressive. I don’t even have a lot to say about this- everything is accurate and well-said. I love that they update the students in as real-time as possible, and that everyone is still so invested in Opa’s safe arrival.

So much love for McPherson College. I made a sort of pilgrimage to McPherson College last summer to trace Opa's path and also my Grandmother's Kansas roots, and I felt very welcomed by them then. Look- here’s a sign that was there when I arrived:

September 29, 1939: Safety Net

 

Original Letter from Alice Palmer of Protestant Episcopal City Mission Society to Charlotte Salmon of American Friends Service Committee 

Transcription:

Miss Charlotte S. Salmon

Placement Worker

American Friends Service Committee

20 South Twelfth Street

Philadelphia, Penna.

My dear Miss Salmon:

I have your letter of September 26th, in reference to Thomas Doeppner, a refugee student, who sails from Holland on the Volendam on October 7th.

We will be very glad to meet him and do everything in our power to facilitate his entry.

If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to call upon us.

Very sincerely,

Alice G. Palmer

Social Worker

 

 Original letter from Charlotte S Salmon of AFSC to Thomas Doeppner (Opa)

Transcription:

September 29, 1939

Thomas Doeppner

c/o Mrs. Allison Palmer

Protestant Episcopal City Mission

Ellis Island, New York City

Dear Thomas Doeppner:

I have asked Mrs. Palmer to help you through the examination at Ellis Island so that you won't lose any more time there than is necessary. She has been working at Ellis Island doing just this sort of work for several years so can be more helpful to you than anybody else.

If you need help of any kind in New York City, the American Friends Service Committee has an office at 165 West 46th Street. Miss Louise Clancy is the representative in charge there. She will be glad to give you information or advice, or to help you in any way.

We have a hostel in Bryn Mawr, very near Philadelphia, where we have transient guests. It is in care of Mrs. Solmitz, 11 Elliot Avenue, Bryn Mawr. We should be glad to have you stay there overnight if there is any reason why you need to come to Philadelphia. However, I expect you will want to get on out to McPherson as soon as you can.

Since I probably won't see you before you go to Kansas let me tell you how glad I am that you are safely here. I hope that you will have a pleasant and profitable year at McPherson, and will be interested in hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,

Charlotte S. Salmon

Placement Worker

These two letters continue the line of support for Opa as he makes his final plans to arrive in America. Mrs. Palmer from the Protestant City Mission agrees immediately to assist Opa upon his arrival and help in any way she can. She is a thread in the safety net that grows stronger for Opa.

Charlotte Salmon sends Opa a letter through Mrs. Palmer to tell him who this helpful person is, and how very glad she is that he has arrived safely to the United States. Of course, she is writing this before confirmation of his arrival, but as of the 29th, it is too late for her to send a letter to him. His ship is set to sail on October 7th, just a little over a week away. Can you imagine stepping off the ship and having a stranger holding this letter out to you? I bet it was a relief.

Charlotte gives Opa a set of contacts and an address or two in case he needs to linger before he goes to McPherson.

The thought occurred to me: Opa is about to step onto a large boat for the first time in his life. This boat will carry him and hundreds of strangers across an ocean he has never seen, to a land he has only heard of. When he arrives at this new place, he has no idea what to expect. He has only the hope and trust that his Friends in America will be there if he needs them. That his safety net he has grown to depend on, will be there. 

His ultimate goal is to then make the trip from New York City to McPherson, Kansas… a town few have heard of even today. And even there, he will be an urban stranger plopped into a rural farmland.

That’s incredibly brave. Opa just had to trust that things would work out and that moving forward was better than staying still. It makes me want to be braver about uncharted territory. What am I holding myself back from because I’ve never been there? Who am I not trusting that has shown themselves to be trustworthy? Where is the line of support in our lives leading us? What safety nets are woven beneath us that we haven't noticed or been brave enough to trust?

September 27, 1939: Hospitality

 Letter from Phil Myers at McPherson College to Charlotte Salmon at AFSC

Transcription:

Charlotte Salmon

American Friends Service Committee

Philadelphia, Penns.

Dear Miss Salmon:

I have at hand your letter of September 25, stating that Thomas Doeppner has obtained his passport. This is certainly good news for him and for us and I am sure that we both thank you for your diligent efforts in his behalf.

I am not certain about my time schedule but if he leaves there the 7th he should be here about the 18th or 19th, should he not? I presume that since it is so late he will come to McPherson immediately. If you would communicate to me the time and place of his arrival in McPherson- I will be very happy to meet him or to make arrangements for someone else to meet him.

We have arrangements all completed for his boarding place etc. He is to room with the President of the Student Christian Movement in the boys dormitory. Coming late as he is, what or rather how much of a academic load would you suggest that he take? If you have any other suggestions or ideas that might make his adjustment easier and his stay more pleasant we would appreciate knowing them.

Thanking you again for your continued efforts, I am

Sincerely yours,

Phil Myers

Phil Myers is the kind of guy I would want greeting me if I stepped off a bus, plane, or train into an unfamiliar place. His letter communicates one thing: we are ready to welcome Tom. The focus never strays too far from the ultimate reason for this whole shindig- to bring a refugee safely out of harm’s way. Sure, he’ll attend school. Sure, he’ll be an asset to the college with his European perspective and experiences. But ultimately, the goal is to help this boy have a chance at freedom.

The other day while my Dad and I were discussing this project, he told me about three themes he noticed that kept showing up in everything we read and learned, three themes that were consistent in my Grandparent’s values: 1) the value of hard work, 2) the value of education, and 3) the value of freedom.

Phil Myers and the hospitable McPherson College were confident that Opa would work hard and pursue his education. Their responsibility was to ensure his freedom, and I deeply appreciate their commitment to doing everything in their power to give him that.

I think about how simple hospitality is. How kind and healing it can be. There is hospitality in Phil's kind question about what kind of course load would be most appropriate for Opa, who would be arriving late and likely in a bit of culture shock. He wants Opa to feel comfortable, to succeed, to adjust easily. 

What would my life look like if I gave this kind of hospitality freely? What would it be like if I accepted it from others? I know that Opa was grateful, but I wonder if he ever knew the amount of preparation and effort that went into this moment of welcome.

September 26, 1939: See you at Ellis Island!

 

Thomas Doppner    

Amstelveen, September 26, 1939

Emmakade 8

Holland

Dear President Schwalm,

     Thank you very much for your kind letter of August 17, in which you tell me that I have been admitted to your college. I appreciate all the help you have given me in this connection, and the personal interest you have taken. I should have liked to reply sooner, but thought it would be better to wait until I had my papers arranged and I could tell you what time I could be expected. There have been some difficulties in obtaining the visa; it was refused the first time I tried to obtain it, although only by word of mouth, then there were the difficulties in obtaining the Dutch identification card, which I had to secure instead of a passport. Now everything seems ready, and I intend to sail on the seventh of October from Antwerp on the "Volendam" of the Holland-America-line. I am very happy that I shall be able to study again, and I am looking forward to the year in your college very much. I know, it will be a stimulating experience. 

    Please give my thanks and sincere greetings to Mr. Phil Myers, who wrote me such a kind letter of welcome. 

With kindest regards, I am faithfully yours

 

Mrs. Allison T. Palmer

Protestant Episcopal City Mission

Ellis Island

New York

Dear Mrs. Palmer:

      I have just learned of a service that you have been giving to new arrivals at Ellis Island, and I should like to ask your help for Thomas Doeppner, a refugee student who plans to sail from Holland on the Volendam on October 7. He has a scholarship at McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas. The students there have raised enough money to take care of his expenses during the school year, and he has been granted free tuition from the college. The American Friends Service Committee feels responsibility for seeing that he is taken care of during his summer vacations or during holidays.

Thomas Doeppner is a refugee from Germany, but his father has established a residence in Holland as European representative for the United Press Association. Therefore, the boy was able to get his student visa in order to take advantage of the scholarship granted him. Because of the War his sailing was delayed so that he will be late arriving at college. McPherson opened about the middle of September. We are hoping that he won't have to delay in New York any longer than is absolutely necessary. We know that in the past some students arriving on student visas have been held at Ellis Island for as long as a week. If there is anything you could do to facilitate Thomas Doeppner's examination there we shall appreciate it very much. If there is any way in which a representative of the Friends Service Committee could help, we would be glad to do it, but I know that you have had long experience and can really do much more to help this boy.

Sincerely yours,

Charlotte S. Salmon

Placement Worker

Opa wrote the president of McPherson College to personally thank him and explain his delay. Now that the swarm of activity had slowed down and he had only to pack and board the ship- he was able to express his sincere appreciation and explain what took him so long.

My favorite part of these selected letters is the very last part of the letter from Charlotte Salmon to the Protestant Episcopal City Mission in Ellis Island. The part when Charlotte asks for help and recognizes that this mission has more experience with helping refugees at Ellis Island. Apparently it is common for refugees to get held up for as long as a week. This seems pretty ridiculous considering the incredibly tedious process that is required before they even arrive. I certainly would be a grumpy girl if I faced more questions and red-tape after getting off a ship that had been across the Atlantic. The refugees were used to roadblocks, but in this tenuous time with so much fear lingering from the places they’ve been, it seems cruel that they would have to jump yet another series of hurdles when they arrived.

Luckily, there were groups like this Protestant Episcopal City Mission who acted as chaplains and social workers to the weary immigrants. We will learn more about that organization and Alice Palmer a bit later. 

I think that the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) were able to be as successful as they were because of their ability to delegate and work with other organizations. They didn’t try to do it all or be experts in every part of the process. They facilitated every part of the process, and when they were beyond their abilities, they connected with someone who was able.

September 25-26: I'm coming!

 Telegram from Opa to Charlotte at AFSC

Transcription:

SALMON GOT VISA LEAVING OCTOBER SEVENTH VOLENDAM WILL CABLE CASE EARLIER BOAT PLEASE INFORM MCPHERSON STOP APPRECIATE BEING MET ABOARD AVOID DIFFICULTIES MANY THANKS= DOEPPNER.

 

Letter from Charlotte Salmon of AFSC to Phil Meyer at McPherson College

Transcription:

September 25, 1939

Phil Meyers,

1722 East Gordon Street,

McPherson, Kansas.

Dear Phil Meyers:

A cable came from Thomas Doeppner this morning: "Got visa leaving October seventh Volendam will cable case earlier boat please inform McPherson Stop appreciate being met aboard avoid difficulties many thanks".

I am delighted that he can get out. Holland must be a very precarious place for a young man to be these days. I hope that it won't matter that he will arrive late for college. He will have to work harder to catch up, I know, but it seems to be that his safe arrival will be worth waiting for.

Will see that he is met at the boat and I hope that there will be no difficulties. Will try to get him out to Kansas as soon as possible.

We surely appreciate your patience and your cooperation in putting this thing through.

Sincerely yours,

Charlotte Salmon

Placement Worker

 Letter from Opa to Charlotte Salmon at AFSC

Transcription:

Amsterdam, September 26th, 1939

Emmakade 8

Holland

Dear Miss Salmon,

As you already know from my cable I have received my visa and have booked on the "Volendam", Holland-America-line, which sails on the seventh of October from Antwerp. I would have liked very much to be in time for the beginning of the term, but it has been very difficult to get the visa. After I had succeeded in getting the Dutch-identification-card, the Rotterdam American Consul refused the visa, because I have no country to return to, when the passport expires. After many efforts we succeeded in obtaining the visa from the American consul in Amsterdam by the help of Mary Champney and some connections of my father. You hardly can imagine how happy I was, when the stamp was placed on my passport.

I know what I owe you. I shall have to prove now to be worthy of so much help.

The consul appeared not to be quite sure that the visa would be sufficient to get me in. He, therefore, suggested that an American citizen might meet me at the boat. For this reason, I asked you in my cable for arranging such a meeting.

I am looking forward to the day I can come to you in order to thank you personally.

With kindest regards, I am

sincerely yours

Thomas Doppner.

The other day I confessed to my husband that I never learned how to do a cartwheel as a child. He was astonished. He told me he thought he could still do one. My husband is 6’3” and well over 200 lbs. I scoffed. He then walked out into the grass and proceeded to do the most hilariously perfect cartwheel. It really was perfect. I laughed so hard.

After reading these letters, I really do wish I had learned to do cartwheels, because that’s pretty much the only response I can picture for this news. He got the stamp on his passport- finally he can leave! Time is increasingly precious and Opa has secured himself a ticket on the Volendam, set to depart on October 7th. He might be late for school, but better late than never! (This cliche was a little too perfect- so I had to use it.)

Charlotte immediately forwards the information from the cable in a letter to Phil Meyers, who I’m sure was thrilled to share with the folks on McPherson’s campus, that their “delayed refugee” was one step closer.

Opa sent a follow up letter that would arrive later to fill in the details of the cable. He had secured his visa with even more finagling and connections. My guess is that the slew of letters we read in this blog had some help to contribute. Opa ran into the same problem most refugees were running into- the infinite catch-22 that the refugees would not have a home to return to. This no-mans-land stranded them wherever they were unless through some cunning, persistence, and luck- they were able to find a loophole. Opa’s luck had not run out: his father’s residency in unoccupied Holland and Opa’s age-appropriate desire to attend college in America worked the trick. He would sail for the USA on October 7th. 

It amazed me to see that this letter was stamped by the AFSC "October 25, 1939." I believe that is the day they received it. I think mail has gotten a little slower for Europe because of the changing political climate. 

Opa offers his sincere appreciation for all that the AFSC had done for him, and made the vow to “be worthy of so much help.”

Lastly, he explains that even his stamped passport may not be solid enough when he arrives on American soil, and requests that an American citizen meet him at the port.

I tried to imagine what Opa felt like during this process. Every single victory was such a tenuous thing. Every single step forward was achieved by so much effort, and none of it was a sure step forward. All of it could be erased in a minute, a military strike, a signature. Even this victory was held in balance by the warning of the consul that Opa have an American citizen meet him at the boat. My stomach knots just imagining this process. I have heard (and even said) that when something is right, it just falls into place. This is clearly not always the case. Sometimes the right thing must be fought for: every tiny step and victory must be carved out of a relentless and merciless system. But even then, it's worth it.

Maybe Charlotte did do a cartwheel. Let’s pretend she did.

September 22, 1939: Refugee Delayed

 Spectator (McPherson College Newspaper) Article from September 22, 1939

Transcription:

Refugee Student Is Delayed In Europe

  Doeppner Is Unable To Secure Passport

Macampusans have been not a little worried over the fate of their non-Aryan student, Thomas Doeppner of Berlin, Germany. Doeppner cabled the Friends Service Committee this week that he is unable to secure a passport but will continue to try.

Last year the International Relations Club and the Student Christian Movement completed a money-raising movement on the campus, to make possible the securing of a non-Aryan Christian student refugee for McPherson college. The Friends Service Committee of America cooperated in securing the highly-recommended German youth.

Thomas Doeppner wired an acceptance to the scholarship offer from Amsterdam on August 15 and stated that he was applying for a passport. In the mad rush for passports caused by the war in Europe he was unable to secure one. If he can not come, another refugee student who is already in America will be secured.

It will be of great interest and benefit to have a student on the campus who is so aware of the European situation and of Hitler's purge there. The student will live in the dormitory and will probably do part-time work. Thomas Doeppner will be classed as a sophomore or a junior.

  

Letter from Charlotte Salmon of AFSC to Phil Meyers at McPherson College

Transcription:

September 22, 1939

Phil Meyers

1722 E. Gordon Street

McPherson, Kansas

Dear Phil Meyers:

This is just to let you know that we have word from the consul as follows:

"If Thomas Doeppner can prove that his father has a permanent residence in Holland he will be given a student visa." 

We should have the definite word in a few days now. However, I consider this encouraging, for I believe that his father can establish residence there. I will keep you informed.

Sincerely yours,

Charlotte S. Salmon

Placement Worker 

The letter from Charlotte helps to explain what I mentioned in the last blog. There must have been some communication between the Consul and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The letters from August (Opa’s Dad) and his boss that confirmed August’s permanent residency in Amsterdam most certainly should solve the problem. Charlotte seems confident and lets Phil Myers know that things should be moving along smoothly from here on out.

Meanwhile, the local newspaper of McPherson College’s town- The Spectator- writes a little news bit on the delay of Opa. This article was obviously written without the information from Charlotte, but it does a nice job of summing up the information and reason for Opa’s delay. The article shows how invested the entire town of McPherson was in my Opa’s plight and the plight of other German refugees. They waited and looked for him. He wasn’t just some side charity that a few people knew about. What a wonderful community of caring! Also- I am a bit fascinated by how they call him a non-Aryan. I guess technically he was by some standard… It is such an odd descriptor to me.

Is this just my experience? I don’t think that the Jewish population in America are distinguished on any form or paperwork like we distinguish other races and ethnicities. I wonder when and why this shifted. Does anyone out there know?