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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.


310 items

Beate Stern (Bea Karp) with Grandmother

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Beate Stern Child Emigration Application

  • Source: Beatrice Pappenheimer papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Beate Stern exit visa application

  • Format: document

Beate Stern Health Assessment

  • Date: October 16, 1942
  • Source: Beatrice Pappenheimer papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Beate Stern OSE Individual Registration Form

  • Date: June 29, 1942
  • Format: document
  • Source: Beatrice Pappenheimer papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Birth Certificate Request

  • Date: August 5, 1994
  • Format: letter

Bridesmaid

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Chateau Chaumont

  • Date: 1985
  • Creator(s): Pappenheimer, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Chateau Couret

  • Date: 1985
  • Creator(s): Pappenheimer, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Chateau Masgelier

  • Date: 1985
  • Creator(s): Pappenheimer, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Chateau Montintin

  • Date: 1985
  • Creator(s): Pappenheimer, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Convent in Millau

  • Date: 1985
  • Creator(s): Pappenheimer, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

A Courageous Aunt Which I am Very Proud of, 1964

  • Date: 1964
  • Creator(s): Cohn, Ronny
  • Format: document

Creighton University Presidential Medallion

  • Date: May 14, 2011
  • Format: document

Deborah Pappenheimer

  • Date: 2014
  • Format: photograph

Dedicate Memorial to Jewish Victims of 'Hitler Holocaust'

  • Creator(s): Leslie, Jerry
  • Format: document

Deportations Map at Auschwitz

  • Date: 2005
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Institute for Holocaust Education

Email from Bea Karp to Susie and Kurt Philipp, March 5, 2002

  • Date: March 5, 2002
  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea
  • Format: email

Enlighten yourselves

  • Date: April 9, 2021
  • Creator(s): Kutler, Sarah
  • Format: newspaper

Entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau

  • Date: 2005
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Institute for Holocaust Education

Fighting Back

  • Date: 2021
  • Format: digitalpub
  • Source: University of Nebraska at Omaha

Form for compensation based on French-American Agreements of 2001

  • Format: document

Gurs Concentration Camp – Vichy France

  • Format: photograph

Hansen: A broken doll reflects the horror of the Holocaust, and one survivor's resolve

  • Date: March 15, 2015
  • Creator(s): Hansen, Matthew
  • Format: newspaper

Hiding Out

  • Date: 2021
  • Format: digitalpub
  • Source: University of Nebraska at Omaha

Holocaust survivor set to tell story to students

  • Date: January 27, 2016
  • Creator(s): Pimper, Sam
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor shares her stories

  • Date: January 31, 2015
  • Creator(s): Stewart, Scott
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor shares stories with UNL students, Lincoln citizens

  • Date: April 20, 2017
  • Creator(s): Taylor, Ryan
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor speaks at junior high

  • Date: May 20, 2015
  • Creator(s): George, Rachel
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor speaks to Arlington students

  • Date: March 22, 2013
  • Creator(s): Real-McKeighan, Tammy
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor tells Aurora students her story

  • Date: December 12, 2014
  • Creator(s): Pore, Robert
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor tells her story to Karen Western sixth-graders

  • Date: February 22, 2017
  • Creator(s): Batchelder, Michael
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivor urges others to remember not to forget, May 7, 1985

  • Date: May 7, 1985
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust survivors get to say 'thank you'

  • Date: May 28, 2009
  • Creator(s): Wetzel, Diane
  • Format: newspaper

Holocaust Survivors Share Their Harrowing Stories with Area Students

  • Date: March 8, 2012
  • Creator(s): Real-McKeighan, Tammy
  • Format: newspaper

Homage to OSE in Washington, November 2000

  • Date: November 2000
  • Creator(s): Waksman, Roger
  • Format: document

Iowa State University Design Faculty Member Brings Mother's Holocaust Story to School Stages

  • Date: December 6, 2016
  • Format: newspaper

Jeanette Gottlieb with Susie Stern and Beate Stern (Bea Karp)

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Jewish Children of France During World War II

  • Date: May 2, 1991
  • Format: book

Kristallnacht memories still vivid to survivors — Two Omahans lived through the anti-Jewish riots in Hitler's Germany

  • Date: November 8, 2008
  • Creator(s): Burbach, Chris
  • Format: newspaper

A lesson in humanity

  • Date: May 2017
  • Creator(s): Felsing, Monika
  • Format: newspaper

Letter Concerning Beate Stern

  • Format: letter

Letter fragment from Rosa Stern, 1942

  • Date: 1942
  • Creator(s): Stern, Rosa
  • Format: letter
  • Source: Beatrice Pappenheimer papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Letter from Albert and Flora Schmidt to Beate and Susie Stern, October 27, 1946

  • Date: October 27, 1946
  • Creator(s): Schmidt, Flora | Schmidt, Albert
  • Format: letter

Letter from Albert Schmidt to American Consulate, August 12, 1946

  • Date: August 12, 1946
  • Creator(s): Schmidt, Albert
  • Format: letter

Letter from Beate and Susie Stern to Bertha Gottlieb

  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea | Stern, Susie
  • Format: letter

Letter from Beate and Susie Stern to Bertha Gottlieb, August 6, 1948

  • Date: August 6, 1948
  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea | Stern, Susie
  • Format: letter

Letter from Beate and Susie Stern to Flora Schmidt

  • Date: 1945
  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea | Stern, Susie
  • Format: letter

Letter from Beate and Susie Stern to Siegfried and Mary Stern, June 27, 1945

  • Date: June 27, 1945
  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea | Stern, Susie | Loewenstein, Senta
  • Format: letter

Letter from Beate Stern (Bea Karp) to Her Aunt and Uncle, November 18, 1945

  • Date: November 18, 1945
  • Creator(s): Karp, Bea
  • Format: letter
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