Getting Old and Getting Out
In New York City
byHerb Bardavid
This is Claus
Clause told me that the ship he came over on was called the S.S. Mouzinho. I looked up the Mouzinho online and found a very interesting story along with the photograph on the right.
Also on the ship were three hundred children who were released from French internment camps, such as Gurs and Rivesaltes . Their parents were left behind. Clause was lucky enough to come to the SS Mouzinho with his parents and twin brother.
I met him on B'way and 71st street. He was walking very slowly, as do many of the elderly people I meet on the streets of New York City. I asked him about his life and what he is doing now, and what was his life like when he was younger. He told me that he was born in Holland and when he was younger his family had to flee the country because of the Nazis. He said his father had a great deal of money and was able to bribe some of the Nazis soldiers. He said they had a police escort to the airport and were able to fly to Marseilles, France. From Marseilles, they traveled to a small city in France called Pau. From Pau, they got a boat to Lisbon, Portugal.
Jewish refugees board the SS Mouzinho in the
port of Lisbon June 10, 1941
Claus was not surprisingly very interested in talking with me. Our conversations lasted about 20 minutes, which is about how long it took him to get to the pharmacy.
And he was out and about none the less.
Claus now lives on the Upper West Side of New York City. His brother lives in the same building in an apartment below him. His brother has Alzheimer's and is not doing well. He does have aids assisting him.
