Fred Roer was born on November 2, 1920, in Kerpen, Germany, a small town with a Jewish community of only about thirty families. His mother’s and father’s families had lived in the area for many generations. Fred grew up in a middle-class household with his parents and his older brother, Hermann. The family owned a successful business that installed gas, water, and electric systems and sold household appliances. Fred often remembered his childhood as happy and full of normal activities. He attended school with both Jewish and non-Jewish students. From the age of seven, he played on soccer teams with friends from both communities, a passion he carried throughout his life.

When the Nazis took power in 1933, 13-year-old Fred was kicked off his soccer team because he was Jewish. The following year, he was expelled from school. And in November 1938, after Kristallnacht, his family was forced to sell their business.

In October 1941, Fred and his family were deported to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. He was separated from his mother and brother and sent to a forced labor camp in Poznan. From 1941 to 1943, Fred dug irrigation ditches and helped excavate a massive man-made lake. The project was part of the Nazis’ plan to create a “show city” that glorified the German Reich. When the project ended, Fred was deported to Auschwitz, arriving on August 27, 1943. He was assigned to the Janinagrube subcamp and forced to work in a coal mine. In January 1945, as the Soviet army approached, he was forced to march from Gross-Rosen and then to Regensburg. He was finally liberated by the U.S. Army near Mauthausen at the German-Austrain border.

After liberation, Fred returned to Kerpen and stayed with family friends. He soon learned that neither his mother nor brother had survived. With the help of his uncles in Los Angeles, Fred was able to immigrate to the United States in 1949. He then decided to travel to Seattle to live with a relative and look for work. Fred found a job at a drapery wholesale company. Over time, he worked his way up to become a warehouse manager. In Seattle, he built a new life, marrying Sarah Israel in 1952 and becoming a U.S. citizen in 1955. Fred and Sara had three children: Carl, Greg, and Elizabeth. For many years, Fred shared his story as a member of the Holocaust Center’s Speakers Bureau. He passed away in 2010. His son Carl continues to share his father’s story as a member of the Holocaust Center’s Speakers Bureau.

1920-2010