Many of you have asked me to share stories along our journey of continuing to make, fund and complete our four part series, “A Train Near Magdeburg”. Yesterday, we had a wonderful event in Birmingham, Alabama and I learned some additional stunning news about one of the liberators in our story as well as having the chance to also honor veterans’ families from the 743 Tank Battalion from Alabama— many of whom did not even know this story existed, because very few ever talked about their experiences after the war. We have also begun to learn how Ohio is connected to this story (see more on that below).
And now, on with the story:
SURVIVOR AND LIBERATOR
Henry Birnbrey was born Heinz Birnbrey on November 29, 1923, in Dortmund, Germany, as the only child of Jennie Jacobsohn and Edmund Birnbrey, enjoying a comfortable middle-class Jewish life until the Nazi regime’s rise brought increasing persecution. In 1937, his father was briefly arrested after a customer’s son denounced him for a critical remark about the Nazis. As conditions worsened, Henry’s mother placed him on a Kindertransport and on March 31, 1938, at age 14, he left Germany alone, arriving in New York before being placed in foster homes—first in Birmingham, Alabama, and then in Atlanta, Georgia, with a supportive host family. Tragically, his father was arrested and severely beaten during Kristallnacht in November 1938, dying from his injuries weeks later; his mother passed away from illness shortly after, and Henry later learned that over 40 extended family members had perished in the Holocaust, with only a few cousins surviving.
Motivated by patriotism, Henry became a U.S. citizen in 1943 after initially being rejected as an “enemy alien” and enlisted in the Army’s 30th Infantry Division. He participated in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach in Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Battle of Mortain, earning a Purple Heart and other medals for his service. As a scout advancing through Germany in 1945, he witnessed horrific scenes of death marches and ditches filled with corpses.
It was in this scouting role that Birnbrey became one of the first U.S. soldiers to encounter the train abandoned near Magdeburg. He was drawn to the site by, in his own words, “this horrible smell.” Once he saw the source of that odor he reported what he’d seen to his unit commander. The rest, as they say, is history.
Birnbrey later served as a counterintelligence interpreter, interrogating German POWs who often denied knowledge of the atrocities.
After returning to Atlanta in 1945, Henry used the GI Bill to attend law school at Georgia State University while building a successful accounting firm. Deeply committed to Jewish life, he co-founded the Hebrew Academy of Atlanta, contributed to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, served as a docent at The Breman Museum, and spoke widely about his experiences to educate others on the Holocaust, racism, and tikkun olam –repairing the world.
Henry passed away in April 2021 at age 97, leaving a legacy of resilience, from Holocaust refugee to liberator and community leader.
On Thursday, September 11th, the City of New Albany, Ohio will host an event at 7pm celebrating the film and this story. We are hopeful that Henry’s family can be with us for this event where you can meet them — and survivors of the train, people Henry helped save (some of the last living survivors from the Holocaust). You will also have an opportunity to meet teacher, historian, and author Matthew Rozell.
Through our additional research, we’ve found at least 31 liberators from the state of Ohio who were part of the 743rd Tank Battalion who helped liberate the train. We have begun the work to locate their families, many of whom still live in Ohio, and are inviting them to this event as well. We hope to give an opportunity for these families to meet the people their family members helped save 80 years ago.
The event will be open to the public and registration will be opening soon. We hope you will be able to join us.