Born: Paul Daniel Hamburger
Fürth, Germany
February 21, 1935
Paul Hamer was born in a suburb of Nuremberg, Germany in February 1935, two years after Hitler’s rise to power. Hamer’s father, a decorated veteran of World War I, supported the young family as a traveling salesman. As anti-Jewish persecution intensified under the Nazi regime, Paul’s father made plans to permanently leave the country.
Hamer was three years old when he arrived with his mother and father on Ellis Island. They settled in New York City in the lower-class, immigrant neighborhood of Washington Heights among many other German-Jewish families. Paul’s parents took classes to learn English and his father began selling linens door to door. Hamer celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in an Orthodox German Jewish congregation which held services in the second floor of a building off Broadway.
Soon afterward, the family moved to New Jersey and Paul’s father opened his own store. Hamer attended East Orange High School and played clarinet in the marching band. He graduated in 1953 and that fall began college at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Paul met his future wife and fellow survivor Edith Finkelstein while working a summer job as a children’s counselor at a swim club. The two married in June 1957 after Paul received his bachelor’s degree.
Hamer was one of the first programmers in the new field of computer science. He worked for an insurance company for five and a half years, including six months on leave with the U.S. Army, before beginning a 30-year career at IBM. Edith earned her Master’s degree in elementary education and taught for many years. The couple raised twin sons who both became successful doctors.
After retiring, Paul and Edith moved to Texas where Paul helped one of his sons establish his medical practice. Edith volunteered at Holocaust Museum Houston, sharing the story of her family’s escape from Lithuania. The couple also enjoyed spending time with their three granddaughters. Edith died in February 2016 after 58 years of marriage.
Parents:
Emil Hamburger, survived
Hilda Plaut Hamburger, survived