Born: Hedwig Basch
August 30, 1924
Vienna, Austria
Hedi Levenback was born in Vienna, Austria in 1924. She was only six years old when her mother died in 1931. Hedi was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, Lily and Friedrich Bielitz. Levenback witnessed growing antisemitism throughout her childhood. The violent Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938 provided the impetus for many Jews to attempt to leave the country.
News of the Kindertransport rescue effort for Jewish children reached Hedi’s aunt who secured a place for Levenback on one of the trains heading for safety in England. Hedi was 14 years old when she left on February 21, 1939 and went to live in Birmingham with a foster family. Her father was eventually imprisoned in Dachau. He died shortly after his release in May 1940. As bombing raids in English cities grew more severe, Levenback’s foster family moved to the more rural town of Tewkesbury, England. Levenback joined the Bedford Jewish youth organization where she met her husband, Robert Levenback, a G.I. in the American military. She arrived in the United States on February 22, 1946.
Parents:
Irwin Basch, d. May 1940
Elise Bielitz Basch, d. 1931