Schickler-Rosenbaum Family Collection

Harry Schickler was born on March 17th, 1894. He was the son of Adolf (born 1869) and Hulda Schickler (née Levie; born 1869); and brother to Kurt Schickler (born February 13th, 1898; died December 18th, 1969), Siegfried Schickler and Kate Schickler (born 1932/33).

Harry’s parents moved from Nienburg to Lüneburg in 1906, where Adolf Schickler owned a shop for shoes and men’s clothing, in which his son worked too. Harry and his father both were members of the gymnastics club Männer-Turnverein 1848 (MTV 1848), where they practiced gymnastics, played football and tennis. Harry was considered a talented athlete.

In 1915 Harry joined the German army to serve in World War I. He was recruited in Hanover in the 2nd reserve battalion of the 73rd infantry regiment, and he was trained before being transported to the eastern front in Russia. His unit was moved around the front several times. During that period Harry became sick with dysentery and after his recovery he was injured for the first time in December 1916 by mine splinters. In spring 1917 his unit was relocated to the western front in France. There Harry was involved in many combat actions on the battlefield. He was wounded two more times, first by a grenade and a second time by a shot in his arm, resulting in heavy bleeding and his transfer to a hospital in Germany, where he stayed until the end of the war. For his bravery Harry received the Iron Cross 2nd class during the war and was promoted first to the rank of private and then to a non-commissioned officer.

After his recovery Harry went back to Lüneburg, where he took over his father’s business in 1928. He married Else Katzenstein and they had two daughters, Edith (later Rosenbaum) and Marga.

When the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, Harry believed that his service in the German army would protect him and his was family from persecution. Even when the situation for the Jews deteriorated more and more, the Schicklers tried to keep their business running. But when the house with their home and store was set on fire on ‘Kristallnacht’ on November 9th, 1938, and Harry was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for a while, the family had no choice but to flee Germany. Because they lacked money, at first only Harry could emigrate to New York. In August of the same year, his wife and the two daughters followed him to the United States. His parents, Adolf and Hulda Schickler, also tried to flee Germany, but were unable to do so. They were deported to Theresienstadt in 1943; Adolf Schickler died during the transport, and Hulda Schickler died in the camp from malnutrition in 1944.

In New York Harry Schickler owned a deli in Washington Heights, where he and his wife lived in the same apartment building as their daughters, Marga and Edith, as well as Edith’s husband Werner Rosenbaum and Werner’s mother Betty. Edith and Werner Rosenbaum were parents of two daughters. Harry Schickler died on November 11th, 1976 in New York.