Born:
Düsseldorf, Germany
August 16, 1913
Died: September 24, 2000
The roots on Walter Loeb’s family tree reach back to the seventeenth century in Germany. In Walter’s words, “Many families who had lived in Germany for hundreds of years, as mine had, simply felt themselves as Germans first and of Jewish religion.” Fully integrated into their town’s social and economic life, Walter’s family also attended synagogue on the high holidays and celebrated the Jewish festivals. Walter, the only child of Jakob and Martha Loeb, grew up in Düsseldorf. Just after Walter’s bar mitzvah, Jakob died of pneumonia. After his father’s death, Walter joined the Jewish Boy Scouts. He enjoyed hiking, camping and skiing with the group.
Walter graduated from gymnasium (high school) in 1931, two years before the Nazis assumed power. An apprenticeship in a department store that belonged to his mother’s relatives took him to Witten. Loeb joined a centrist paramilitary organization that opposed both the Nazis and the Communists. He also continued his involvement with the Jewish Scouts. As a result of these affiliations, Walter was arrested by storm troopers in October 1934. After a sympathetic policeman recognized him and intentionally allowed him to escape, Walter went directly to the railroad station and boarded a train for the Netherlands.
Encouraged by relatives in America, Walter had begun preparing to emigrate shortly after Hitler was appointed Chancellor. By the time of his arrest, he had received his U.S. visa and his mother had purchased him a ticket aboard a ship departing from Bremen. Loeb knew he faced arrest if he returned to Germany to board the ship, so he arranged to sail from Rotterdam instead. In December 1934, he arrived at the port of Hoboken, New Jersey where his relatives greeted him at the dock.
As soon as he arrived in America, Walter enrolled in English classes. Then he began looking for employment. Jobs were scarce in Depression-era America, but with the help of the National Council of Jewish Women, Walter secured a position as a stock clerk in a Brooklyn hotel. Two years later, eager to return to his department store career, he found a job in the sporting goods department at Macy’s, where one of his duties was to arrange weekend ski outings. It was on one of these trips that he met American-born Florence Kohl. They were married in 1938. The following year, Walter’s mother, Martha, was able to join them in New York. Walter and Florence had three sons, Michael, Douglas (who died of leukemia in 1962) and Jonathan.
In 1952, Walter’s career took him and his family to Houston. After working briefly as a research analyst in the furniture industry, he moved to the research department of Continental Oil Company. At the time of his retirement in 1978, Walter was a senior analyst. In retirement, Walter remained active with the Boy Scouts. He also worked with Holocaust Museum Houston translating documents from German for the collections department. His warmth, dedication and professionalism endeared him to the staff there. Walter died in September 2000.
Parents:
Jakob (Julian) Loeb, d. 1927
Martha Blank Loeb, survived