Inez McGregor

As Nazi persecution intensified during the 1930s, the Eskenasy family attempted to leave Germany. Alfons sought Turkish passports for the family, but after his citizenship was revoked in 1936, they became stateless. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, Alfons was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau. Although he was eventually released, the family’s situation continued to worsen. They purchased tickets to sail to Tangier, Morocco, but the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 prevented their escape.

In 1942, Inez’s mother, Louise, and her aunt Carmen were performing forced labor at a battery factory in Munich. There, Louise met a French engineer named Mr. Capgras, who helped arrange a hiding place for her daughter. At only four years old, Inez was sent to the Bavarian village of Ban Schliersee near the Austrian border, where she lived with a woman named Mrs. Schneider. 

From 1942 until the end of the war in 1945, Schliersee became Inez’s home. Mrs. Schneider cared for many children who had been evacuated from cities threatened by Allied bombing, and Inez hid within the group. Rather than remembering constant fear, Inez experienced a relatively normal childhood. She helped with farm chores, played in the yard, took piano lessons, and attended church on Sundays. She later remembered never feeling especially restricted despite concealing her Jewish background. The village itself was spared much of the devastation seen elsewhere in Germany; only two bombs fell in Schliersee during the war—one hit the school and another landed in a nearby park.

The village itself was spared much of the devastation seen elsewhere in Germany; only two bombs fell in Schliersee during the war

While Inez remained hidden in the countryside, members of her family continued to face Nazi persecution. In January 1945, her mother, grandfather, and aunt were deported to the Theresiendstadt Ghetto. Fortunately, they survived and were liberated by Soviet forces on May 8, 1945. 

When the war ended, Inez’s grandmother walked from Munich to Schliersee to bring her home. Shortly afterward, Inez was reunited with her mother, aunt, and grandfather. In September 1947, the family immigrated to New York to join aunt Carmen who was already living in the United States. In December, Inez and her mother moved to Washington, where they lived with her stepfather. 

As a teenager, Inez met Keith McGregor. Unfortunately, the two lost contact when she moved back to New York to finish high school. Nearly twenty years later they reunited in Washington and married on September 2, 1971. Together they raised two children and now have six grandchildren.

• Through the Lens of Eskenasy