Heinz Schwarz
1927-2005
Heinz Schwarz was born on May 19, 1927, in Berlin, Germany. Fearing for their lives, Heinz and his parents Walter and Elizabeth fled to Shanghai in April 1939. Heinz turned 12 during the two-month journey. Jewish refugees in Shanghai survived in cramped and unsanitary conditions. Still, Heinz was able to attend a Jewish school and even joined a Boy Scout troop started by the refugee community. After the war, the family unsuccessfully tried to contact relatives in Germany. Tragically, all had been killed in the Holocaust.
After nine years in Shanghai, Walter’s cousin sponsored the family to immigrate to America. They arrived in Seattle in 1948, when Heinz was 21. Heinz completed his education and became a Certified Public Accountant, eventually opening his own firm on Aurora Avenue. As an adult, Heinz was active within the Seattle Jewish community, participating in programs at the Stroum Jewish Community Center and attending services at Temple Beth Am and Congregation Herzl-Ner Tamid. Heinz passed away in 2005.
Video Testimony – Heinz Schwarz
Journeys to Seattle: Heinz Schwarz
Photo Gallery – Heinz Schwarz
H. Schwarz Gallery 1
Heinz at three years old.
H. Schwarz Gallery 2
Heinz, 1931.
H. Schwarz Gallery 3
Heinz in Germany, early 1930s.
H. Schwarz Gallery 4
Heinz' first day of school with his shultute, a cardboard cone filled with sweets given to students by their families.
H. Schwarz Gallery 5
Heinz' father, Walter, received his Iron Cross medal for bravery in combat during World War I.
H. Schwarz Gallery 6
Heinz at the table with family, 1936.
H. Schwarz Gallery 7
Heinz with his father Walter (left), 1938.
H. Schwarz Gallery 8
Heinz' mother, Elsbeth.
H. Schwarz Gallery 9
Heinz' father, Walter. 1939.
H. Schwarz Gallery 10
Heinz' passport, 1939.
H. Schwarz Gallery 11
Heinz' passport, 1939.
H. Schwarz Gallery 12
Heinz's boy scout ID. October, 1941.
H. Schwarz Gallery 13
Heinz' school notebook from Shanghai.
H. Schwarz Gallery 14
Heinz with his parents in Shanghai, 1948.
H. Schwarz Gallery 15
Heinz Schwarz in Seattle, 1949.
H. Schwarz Gallery 16
Heinz with his parents, 1952.
H. Schwarz Gallery 17
Heinz in front of the Space Needle, 1962.
H. Schwarz Gallery 18
Heinz in Seattle, 2001.
H. Schwarz Gallery 19
Heinz on a Seattle ferry, 2004.
