The Krauses

In January 1939, Mr. Gilbert Kraus, a prominent Philadelphia attorney and member of the Jewish fraternal organization Brith Sholom, together with its then president, Mr. Lewis Levine, conceived a bold plan for rescuing Jewish children from Nazi Germany. The plan was to bring the children to the United States without their parents. Against many odds, both in the United States and in Nazi Germany, Mr. Kraus and his wife Eleanor succeeded in obtaining 50 visas and affidavits needed for this task.

Mr.  and Mrs. Kraus and a pediatrician, Dr. Schless, then undertook the risky trip to Vienna, and succeeded in returning to the United States with 25 boys and 25 girls whose parents allowed them this exodus. This was the single largest group of unaccompanied children to enter the United States up to that time.

A documentary honoring this unique accomplishment was produced by Steven Pressman for HBO Films in 2013. The documentary, “50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. & Mrs. Kraus” was first aired by HBO in April 2013.