Arthur Julius Weil dies at 101
In a column for jweekly.com, Ben Steinhorn argues that recording the lives of aging relatives creates an enduring record against inevitable loss.
Steinhorn writes that his grandfather, Holocaust survivor and poet Arthur Julius Weil, died in his sleep on Sept. 25 at the age of 101, according to jweekly.com. Weil had recently entered hospice care after his pacemaker stopped working.
Escape from Nazi Germany
jweekly.com reports that Weil’s early life was upended by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany. At 8 years old, Weil witnessed Adolf Hitler waving from an open car during a 1933 parade in Hanover.
In 1936, the Gestapo targeted the family, coming to their apartment to arrest Weil’s great-grandfather, who had already gone underground. jweekly.com notes that Weil and his mother were forced to sell their apartment and auction off their possessions.
Weil fled Europe in 1938 via the American Kindertransport, arriving in Chicago. His mother later joined him, while his father was interned at Gurs before eventually reuniting with them in Chicago before his death.
Life in the United States
After arriving in the United States, Weil served as a German translator after joining the U.S. Army and earning American citizenship. jweekly.com states that he later met Lillian Ruth Goldberg and moved to the Bay Area.
Weil pursued a doctorate in American history at UC Berkeley before choosing to forgo the dissertation to avoid uprooting his family. He taught American history and German at a middle school in San Leandro and later worked in real estate.
Preserving Family Memories
Steinhorn spent years accompanying his grandfather to plays and symphonies, keeping detailed notes of their encounters. jweekly.com reports that Steinhorn began writing down observations after the death of his younger brother.
Those written notes served a dual purpose as Weil aged. Steinhorn read the notes aloud, providing material that Weil shaped into poems about his experiences.