from terror to transformation

A Refugee's Life in Photos:
​Reflections on Persecution & Forgiveness

Wertheim, Germany: Shimon (n arms) with his family, standing before their home (Father in second-floor window!)

1928

Wertheim, Germany: Shimon with his 4th grade class, and about town with family and friends.

1930s

1940s

Archival photos of the Nazi regime and Hitler Youth. Shimon remembers his encounters in his haunting poem: "...one dark night, they goosestepped by my house..."

nazi germany
1930s-40s

Despite fleeing as a refugee, Shimon was nonetheless classified as an "Enemy Alien" in the United States until his enlistment in the US Navy in 1943.

wwii
​1941-1945

Petty Officer Shimon as a radar technician, and Officer (Ensign) Shimon during the Korean War.

korean war
1950-1952

Shimon has a rewarding engineering career, marries, and begins a family.

1950s

Shimon leaves his lucrative career in electronic engineering for a life of community improvement and environmental activism.

1960s

1970s

Shimon champions environmental action at home in San Fransisco, CA and abroad.

1980s

 Shimon returns to Wertheim and reunites with his one surviving classmate, Ludwig Dreikorn.

2000s

Historical photos of Shimon's Great-Uncle, Mother (Mutti), and Grandfather.

family photos