Upstander Profile-Renee Kann Silver

Name : Renee Kann Silver

DOB: February 24, 1931

Age: 79

Born Ruth Kann (later Renee Kann ) (now Silver) was born in Saarland on February 24^th, 1931. She was older than her sister, Edith by 2 1/2 years. When Renee was barley 2 years old, the Nazis came to power. Her father was very worried about the fate of his family being Jewish. As soon as he possibly could, he got rid of his business and immigrated the family to France. To Renee, life seemed so confusing, since she was so young when the War broke out. Renee lived in these places during the war:

Saarland, Alsace, Sarreguemines, Longeville en Barrois, Gurs, Lyon-Switzerland, Back to France and the States. But, then she was sent to Le-Chambon-sur-Lingon (where Peter Feigl and Elisabeth Kaufmann were also sent). She was only 11 years old at this point. Unlike Peter Feigl’s parents who did not pay a fee, Renee’s parents had to pay a fee for her to stay in Le-

Chambon-sur-Lingon. Fortunately, Renee’s little sister, Edith was with her at this departure. Renee was given to a woman named Madame Dreyfus, but Renee did not live with Madame Dreyfus. Madame Dreyfus was responsible for getting Renee and her sister to Le-Chambon. When they arrived, a family was waiting there for Edith, but Renee, at the tender age of 11, was wondering why there was no one for her? Renee ended up spending the night with a woman by the name of Madame Deleage. She was responsible of finding hiding places for the Jewish refugee Children, such as Renee. Renee ended up on a farm with a family by the name of Fournier. The Fournier family had a son named Marcel. She was very dissatisfied with the farmers. She said,” The Fourniers had never seen a toothbrush before I came.” Later on some more girls came to stay with the Fourniers. She stated, “Even though they’re the same age as me-eleven-they never talk to me. And I’m not suppose to tell anyone who I am, so I don’t talk to them much, either. I’m still lonely.” Renee would see her sister every once in a while; Edith was placed with a different family. Renee would be placed with a different family. She would later be placed with a woman by the name of Mesdemoiselles (Misses) Royal. Renee would be a little more content there; after all, there would be other girls for her to play with. Soon, Renee and her family would safely immigrated to the USA When she was asked about her first impression of the US, she said, “My first impression of the States upon arriving in New York in July was that it was very unpleasantly hot. The humidity was terrible. I did not care for New York where we stayed with relatives for a few days. A cousin picked us up and drove us to Pittsburgh and I was enchanted by the beauty and vastness of the landscape on either side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike”. She was only 16 when she came to the US. She and her sister took a course during the summer at Taylor Allderdice High School to improve on their English. Renee would only do her senior year of Highschool, and then she would attend the University of Pittsburg, where she would major in foreign languages. By this time, she was fluent in English, German, and French, had five years of Latin and was beginning to learn Spanish. During college, she would meet the love of her life, Arthur Silver, who would be seven years older than her. They met in February of 1949 and married in November of 1950. She was only 19 when she got married, and he was 26. Soon, Renee became a teacher. She said to the author of this novel, “I taught in the New York City Public school system, languages at the high school level. I was also a grade advisor for 8 years and dealt particularly with the ESL students, I never taught at the university level. My husband taught in the Fine Arts Department of Long Island University C.W. Post College. He became chairman of the department.” The Silver’s settled in New York, where the Silver’s would welcome one son, in the year1956. Renee would soon be interviewed for a novel entitled, “Hidden on the Mountain: Children hidden during the Holocaust”. She would tell her story for the first time to the public, and then, by word of mouth, she would speak at groups, teaching them about the Holocaust. Renee unfortunately lost her sister, Edith in May of 2008 and Arthur in 2010. Today, Renee continues to speak at groups and spend time with her grandchildren, who bring her such joy. She never forgot Le-Chambon, she always thought of it as a “Difficult Adjustment” and went back to Le-Chambon for the reunion where she would meet Elisabeth Kaufmann Koenig. She is 79 years of age and continues to live in NY.