Skip to main content

Bea Karp

Bea Karp was born Beate Stern in Lauterbach, Germany in 1932. She and her family were forced from their home and transported by passenger train to internment camps in the south of France. Bea and her sister Susie were saved by the Jewish French Underground, Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE), and were hidden in numerous chateaus and convents until the end of the war. They were never reunited with their parents who were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Bea arrived in the US in 1947, later settling in Omaha with her husband and four daughters. Bea spoke extensively about her Holocaust experiences with Nebraska and Iowa schoolchildren and at community gatherings. Hear Bea's testimony in her own words.


311 items

Beate Stern (Bea Karp) Age 3

  • Date: 1935 ca.
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Susie Stern Age 2

  • Date: 1936 ca.
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Beate Stern (Bea Karp) Age 5

  • Date: 1937 ca.
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Moritz Stern ID Photo

  • Date: 1938
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Rosa Stern ID Photo

  • Date: 1938
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Letter from Max S. Perlman to Flora Gottlieb, November 29, 1938

  • Date: November 29, 1938
  • Creator(s): Perlman, Max S.
  • Format: document

Beate Stern (Bea Karp) age 7

  • Date: 1939 ca.
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Letter from Flora Gottlieb Schmidt (Last Page Only)

  • Date: July 1940
  • Creator(s): Schmidt, Flora Gottlieb
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Flora Schmidt, August 5, 1940

  • Date: August 5, 1940
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Fanni Hoffman to Sofie and Markus Stern, November 1940

  • Date: November 1940
  • Creator(s): Hofmann, Fanni
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa and Moritz Stern to Flora Gottlieb, December 12, 1940

  • Date: December 12, 1940
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa | Stern, Moritz
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa and Moritz Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, March 2, 1941

  • Date: March 2, 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa | Stern, Moritz
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa and Moritz Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, March 1941

  • Date: March 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Moritz | Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Flora Gottlieb Schmidt to the Wertheimer family, May 5, 1941

  • Date: May 5, 1941
  • Creator(s): Schmidt, Flora Gottlieb
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Bertha Gotlieb, July 23, 1941

  • Date: July 23, 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Bertha Gottlieb to Moritz Stern, September 9, 1942

  • Date: September 9, 1942
  • Creator(s): Gottlieb, Bertha
  • Format: letter

Note Concerning Rosa Stern's Visa Application, [September 30, 1941]

  • Date: [September 30, 1941]
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Flora Schmidt, October 16, 1941

  • Date: October 16, 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Flora and Albert Schmidt, October 26, 1941

  • Date: October 26, 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

List of Bea Karp's possessions

  • Date: November 1941

Postcard from Moritz Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), December 5, 1941

  • Date: December 5, 1941
  • Creator(s): Stern, Moritz
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Moritz Stern to Beate Stern, December 11, 1941

  • Date: December 11, 1941
  • Format: postcard

Letter from Rosa Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), [December 1941]

  • Date: [December 1941]
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Flora and Albert Schmidt, January 17, 1942

  • Date: January 17, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Rosa Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), January 28, 1942

  • Date: January 28, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Message from Rosa Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, May 13, 1942

  • Date: May 13, 1942
  • Format: document

Postcard from Rosa Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, May 16, 1942

  • Date: May 16, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), May 28, 1942

  • Date: May 28, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Beate Stern OSE Individual Registration Form

  • Date: June 29, 1942
  • Format: document

Letter from Flora Gottlieb Schmidt to Chateau de Chammont, July 1, 1942

  • Date: July 1, 1942
  • Creator(s): Schmidt, Flora Gottlieb
  • Format: letter

Letter from Rosa Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), July 1, 1942

  • Date: July 1, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Message from Rosa Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, July 7, 1942

  • Date: July 7, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Letter from Emily Hughes to Bertha Gottlieb, July 7, 1942

  • Date: July 7, 1942
  • Creator(s): Hughes, Emily
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Rosa Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, July 13, 1942

  • Date: July 13, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Bertha Gottlieb to Rosa Stern, August 16, 1942

  • Date: August 16, 1942
  • Creator(s): Gottlieb, Bertha
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Moritz Stern to Beate Stern (Bea Karp), August 17, 1942

  • Date: August 17, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Moritz
  • Format: letter

Letter from Moritz Stern to Flora Gottlieb Schmidt, August 30, 1942

  • Date: August 30, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Moritz
  • Format: letter

Message from Markus Stern to Adolf Stern, September 3, 1942

  • Date: September 3, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Adolf
  • Format: letter

Message from Markus Stern to Adolf Stern, September 3, 1942

  • Date: September 3, 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Markus
  • Format: letter

Beate Stern Health Assessment

  • Date: October 16, 1942

Susie Stern Health Assessment

  • Date: October 1942
  • Format: letter

Letter from Emily Hughes to Bertha Gottlieb, December 23, 1942

  • Date: December 23, 1942
  • Creator(s): Hughes, Emily
  • Format: letter

Susie Stern Conclusions of the Emigration Commission

  • Date: 1942
  • Format: document

Letter fragment from Rosa Stern, 1942

  • Date: 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Gerty Gross to Beate and Susi Stern, March 31, 1943

  • Date: March 31, 1943
  • Creator(s): Gross, Gerty
  • Format: letter

Letter from Paulette Rimmer to Bea Karp, April 3, 1943

  • Date: April 3, 1943
  • Creator(s): Rimmer, Paulette
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Gerty Gross to Beate Stern, May 10, 1943

  • Date: May 10, 1943
  • Creator(s): Gross, Gerty
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Gerty Gross to Beate Stern, May 25, 1943

  • Date: May 25, 1943
  • Creator(s): Gross, Gerty
  • Format: letter

Postcard from Gerty Gross to Beate Stern, June 16, 1943

  • Date: June 16, 1943
  • Creator(s): Gross, Gerty
  • Format: letter

Letter from Paulette Rimmer to Beate Stern, June 16, 1943

  • Date: June 16, 1943
  • Creator(s): Rimmer, Paulette
  • Format: letter
⟰