Holocaust hero Heilbronn dies at age 80
Published: March 9, 2006
Fred V. Heilbronn was a prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp in Holland during World War II.
As a teenager, he risked his life to help other Jews escape the camp during the Holocaust.
Mr. Heilbronn died Tuesday at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. He was 80.
He moved to Turlock in 1952 and had lived in Modesto since 1959.
“I could have made a lot of money helping others escape, but I didn’t take any money,” Mr. Heilbronn told The Bee for a story published in February 1997. “My older brother had been helped by somebody in the underground when he left Germany, and they didn’t take any money from him, so that was my way of thanking them.”
Mr. Heilbronn was a livestock dealer and broker for 43years after moving to the United States. He arrived in Chicago in 1947.
Mr. Heilbronn was a native of Lengerich, Germany. He was a member of Congregation Beth Shalom and its men’s club. He was also a member of the SOS Club in Modesto, the Holocaust Museum of Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Tolerance of Los Angeles.
He is survived by his wife, Evelyn E. Heilbronn of Modesto; children, Janet Heilbronn of Modesto and Ben Heilbronn of San Jose; brother, Gunther Frank of Chicago; and sister, Hella Weiss of San Francisco. He was preceded in death by a brother and a sister. Also, his father died in a concentration camp.
A funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Salas brothers Funeral Chapel, with burial to follow at Lakewood Memorial Park, Hughson.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: