Walter Heiman
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Walter J. Heiman (March 12, 1901 in
Essen, Germany Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
– March 18, 2007 in
University City, Missouri University City (colloquially, U. City) is an inner-ring suburb of the city of St. Louis in St. Louis County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was measured at 35,065 by the 2020 census. The city is one of the older suburbs in th ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
) was a
Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
man who at the time of his death had become one of the last surviving veterans and hero of
the First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.


Early life and military service

Born and raised in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, he enlisted as a private in the German
Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...
in March 1918, at 17 years of age, after finishing high school. He was sent to an air base in
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
for flight training, but the war ended before he finished training. He talked vividly about the situation by explaining that the
German Revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
broke out on November 9, 1918, which caused
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
to abdicate and flee the country, and since at that point in time each soldier made his own decision about his immediate future, Walter decided to go home to Essen. After the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...
, the city of Essen was occupied by the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
. Walter's older brother Kurt had also served in the
German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
earlier in the war and was wounded in 1916 at the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
. Kurt never fully recovered from his wounds that he suffered in the battle and died in 1920.


Persecution and emigration

After the war Walter returned to Essen and went to work as an apprentice in the grain distribution business, which later led to him starting his own grain business in 1926. He was unable to pursue a college education because of Germany's discrimination laws on
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish families that would not allow more than one Jewish sibling to attend college, and since his older brother Kurt was already in college this prevented Walter from enrolling. He married Trude Weyl from
Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...
on the last day of 1935, and they had two children together. After the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
s took power in Germany in the 1930s, the hardships became much worse as Jewish assets were seized, and so Walter fled Germany to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1938 with his pregnant wife and only $25. His older sister Lily, parents and in-laws all were murdered in
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. After arriving in the United States, he and Trude initially stayed with relatives in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, while he learned the
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
in night school and from listening to the radio. They lived in Chicago until 1941 with very little means. Eventually, he became a
United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitu ...
in 1945.


Later life

In 1941, they moved to
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, where Walter opened a business selling Belgian light bulbs for a Western Extralite branch. He kept the business as it grew over time, even after his retirement in 1989, at which time he still remained chairman of the board, but then eventually sold the company in 1999 to the family of his original business partner in 1941. In the 1950s, they moved to
Olivette, Missouri Olivette is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,504 at the 2020 census. History Olivette was settled in the mid-19th century as a small farming community along an old Ind ...
, where he and Trude continued raising their two children. Walter was active in sports like tennis, soccer, snow skiing and swimming. In fact, he was still a swimmer until the age of 103. Heiman had once dined with
Leah Rabin Leah Rabin (, née Schloßberg; 28 April 1928 – 12 November 2000) was the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995. Biography Leah Rabin was born Leah Schloßberg in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany (now K ...
, the wife of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
's Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...
. They had been at one of Israel's Children's Centers, which are built by a program that Mr. Heiman supported. These centers are built for Israel's immigrant and underprivileged children, and they have both learning centers and tennis courts. After his wife's death in 1994, Walter moved to an elderly complex in University City, where he resided until his own death at the age of 106.


References


Walter Heiman biography and Veterans Day 2006, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Walter Heiman pictures, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Walter Heiman picture, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Walter Heiman biography and death notice, St. Louis Jewish Light Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiman, Walter 1901 births 2007 deaths American men centenarians Luftstreitkräfte personnel Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Military personnel from Essen People from the Rhine Province Jewish centenarians