St. Louis’ remarkable stories from the Holocaust: Erich Dahl

Erich Dahl

ST. LOUIS KAPLAN FELDMAN HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
Published May 18, 2021

Since 1979, Vida “Sister” Goldman Prince has been Chairman of the Oral Histories Project, at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. The project is dedicated to recording and preserving audio interviews of not only Holocaust Survivors, but also liberators of Nazi concentration camps and other non-Jewish witnesses living in Europe during World War II.

The museum was one of the first to begin gathering oral history projects so these voices and photographs will be displayed and future generations will continue to be witnesses to this catastrophic period of world history.

In partnership with the Jewish Light, The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is allowing us to republish a portion of these Oral Histories project as a celebration of life and a crucial part of honoring and remembering the past. Please follow the provided links to additional recordings.

A Brief Bio

Erich Dahl was born on February 29, 1920 in Germany, near the Belgium border. His father was a cattle broker. He had two sisters. In 1933, he was the only Jewish child in his school and was kicked out. He found a job working as an apprentice pastry cook for his uncle, then the Nazis came in and took over that job. He was waiting for a visa to get out of Germany, and when he got it, he left alone in 1938 at 18 years old and headed for New York. He was drafted and served in the Pacific during the rest of the war. Most of his family perished in the camps.