Kurt Fischel (1917-2001)
Kurt Fischel was born in Germany in 1917. At the Lessing Gymnasium in Mannheim in 1933 he courageously refused to render the Hitler salute. Dismissed from the school and marked as a potential troublemaker, the Gestapo arrested him in January 1936. He faced possible shipment to the Dachau concentration camp but was released after promising to leave Germany within 48 hours. He instead hid in Germany until he could obtain a U.S. visa, finally arriving in New York on September 19, 1936.
Though nominally an "enemy alien," he joined the U.S. Army in February 1942, and was assigned to non-military duties in the States. Unwilling to accept a non-combat role, Kurt explained to his commanding officer that if anyone was motivated to fight the Nazis it was he, who had lost so many relatives in the Holocaust, including his sister, her husband and two-year old son whose deaths by gas the International Red Cross confirmed. He prevailed and in 1943 joined a unit in North Africa that invaded Italy in the fall of 1944. Prior to going overseas, he became engaged to Olga Sommerfeld, whose letter writing was so prolific that the standard mail call became, "Olga is here!"
After nearly four years in the Army, Kurt returned in October 1945 to marry Olga. Three years later Kurt embarked an industry career, holding supervisory jobs at Gruen, RCA and, finally, General Electric, where he worked for 23 years, throughout the world, ending as Vice President of European Operations for Aircraft Engines. Along the way, he survived a near fatal car wreck, the crash of an Iberian Airlines DC-10 in Boston, and the birth of two sons, including Stephen Kurt Fischel.
Kurt's friends will remember him for his keen interest in world affairs-which he shared in local and national newspapers-his wry sense of humor, and his devotion to his beloved wife Olga.