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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

Letter from Ernst Adler to Mortimer Michael, November 30, 1955

  • Date: November 30, 1955
  • Creator(s): Adler, Ernst
  • Format: letter

Letter from Ernst Adler to C. J. Schneeman, November 30, 1955

  • Date: November 30, 1955
  • Creator(s): Adler, Ernst
  • Format: letter

Letter from Ernst Adler to Flora Schmidt, December 12, 1955

  • Date: December 12, 1955
  • Creator(s): Adler, Ernst
  • Format: letter

Marriage Certificate of Irving Pappenheimer and Beatrice Stern (Bea Karp)

  • Date: July 4, 1957
  • Format: document

Bea Karp (Bea Pappenheimer) Receiving Citizenship

  • Date: June 24,1968
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Bea Karp's Certificate of Naturalization

  • Date: June 24, 1958
  • Format: document

A Courageous Aunt Which I am Very Proud of, 1964

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

Letter from Ernst Papanek to Beate Pappenheimer, December 15, 1965

  • Date: December 15, 1965
  • Creator(s): Papanek, Ernst
  • Format: letter

Letter from Ernst Papanek to Bea Pappenheimer, December 17, 1965

  • Date: December 17, 1965
  • Creator(s): Papanek, Ernst
  • Format: letter

That Millions Will Not Have Died in Vain, January 15, 1967

  • Date: January 15, 1967
  • Creator(s): Nelson, Jeff
  • Format: newspaper

Chateau Couret

  • 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

Chateau Masgelier

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

Chateau Chaumont

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

Chateau Montintin

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

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

  • Date: May 7, 1985
  • Format: newspaper

Letter From Sente Loewenstein to Bob and Bea Pappenheimer (Bea Karp), July 5, 1985

  • Date: July 5, 1985
  • Creator(s): Loewenstein, Senta
  • Format: letter

The 'Bag Lady' in the Rolls-Royce

  • Date: June 17, 1985
  • Format: newspaper

Bea Karp United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Testimony Transcription

  • Date: June 6, 1990
  • Format: testimony
  • Source: The Jeff and Roby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Jewish Children of France During World War II

  • Date: May 2, 1991
  • Format: book

Birth Certificate Request

  • Date: August 5, 1994
  • Format: letter

Bea Karp Shoah Foundation Testimony Part 3

  • Date: November 1, 1995
  • Format: testimony

Bea Karp Shoah Foundation Testimony Part 2

  • Date: November 1, 1995
  • Format: testimony

Bea Karp Shoah Foundation Testimony Part 4

  • Date: November 1, 1995
  • Format: testimony

Bea Karp Shoah Foundation Testimony Part 1

  • Date: November 1, 1995
  • Format: testimony

Speech of J. F. Guthmann, President of OSE-France, on November 12, 2000

  • Date: November 12, 2000
  • Creator(s): Guthmann, Jean-François
  • Format: document

Letter from Pierre Drai to Beatrice Karp, January 22, 2002

  • Date: January 22, 2002
  • Creator(s): Drai, Pierre
  • Format: letter

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

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

Questionnaire from Commission for the compensation of victims filled out by Beatrice Karp

  • Date: March 20, 2002
  • Format: document

Bea Karp in Poland 2005

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

Majdanek, Poland 2005

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

Bea Karp Visits Auschwitz

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

Bea Karp's Grandson, Danny Krantz

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

Memorial at Auschwitz I

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

Messages on Train Tracks Auschwitz-Birkenau - Poland 2005

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

Bea Karp at Warsaw Monument

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

Bea Karp at Majdanek Memorial

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

Bea Karp with Family Members in Poland 2005

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

Memorial at Majdanek

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

Bea Karp at Auschwitz I Memorial

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

Entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau

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

Deportations Map at Auschwitz

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

Safety meant always moving

  • Date: January 23, 2005
  • Creator(s): Cordes, Henry J.
  • Format: newspaper

Nazi-camp survivor breathes life into lessons — An Omaha woman shares her Holocaust memories with Catholic grade school students

  • Date: April 12, 2005
  • Creator(s): Gersema, Emily
  • Format: newspaper

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

Holocaust survivors get to say 'thank you'

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

Bea Karp Recounts Her Holocaust Survivor Journey

  • Date: October 13, 2010
  • Format: digitalpub

Bea Karp Honorary Degree

  • Date: 2011
  • Format: photograph

Creighton University Presidential Medallion

  • Date: May 14, 2011
  • Format: document

Letter from Michael J. Kelly to Bea Karp, September 29, 2011

  • Date: September 29, 2011
  • Format: letter
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