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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

War Bundle Carried by Beate Stern (Bea Karp)

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

V-Mail Letter from Ernest S. Kahn to Bertha Gottlieb and Flora and Albert Schmidt, September 27, 1945

  • Date: September 27, 1945
  • Creator(s): Kahn, Ernest S.
  • Format: letter

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

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

Telegram to Suzanne Bardon, June 14, 1945

  • Date: June 14, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram to Louise Gordon about Beate and Susie Stern's Travels

  • Format: telegram

Telegram Regarding Beate Stern (Bea Karp) and Suse Stern's Travels, August 30, 1945

  • Date: August 30, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram Regarding Beate and Susie Stern's Travels, May 29, 1945

  • Date: May 29, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram Regarding Beate and Susie Stern's Travels

  • Format: telegram

Telegram from Sigfried Stern Regarding Beate and Susie's Travels, July 3, 1945

  • Date: July 3, 1945
  • Creator(s): Stern, Siegfried
  • Format: telegram

Telegram from Siegfried Stern Regarding Beate and Susie Stern's Travels

  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE to Louise Gordon, May 23, 1945

  • Date: May 23, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Paris to OSE Limoges, June 23, 1945

  • Date: June 23, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Paris to Louise Gordon, May 13, 1945

  • Date: May 13, 1945
  • Creator(s): OSE Paris
  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Paris to Louise Gordon

  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Paris to Louise Gordon

  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Mainsat, June 25, 1945

  • Date: June 25, 1945
  • Format: telegram

Telegram from OSE Limoges about status of visas

  • Format: telegram

Telegram from Louise Gordon and Flora Schmidt Regarding Beate and Susie Stern's Travels

  • Format: telegram

Sworn Statement of Albert and Flora Schmidt, September 5, 1951

  • Date: September 5, 1951
  • Format: document

Susie Stern's exit visa application (pink form)

  • Format: document

Susie Stern's exit visa application

  • Format: document

Susie Stern Immigration Document

  • Format: document
  • Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Susie Stern Health Assessment

  • Date: October 1942
  • Format: letter
  • Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Susie Stern Conclusions of the Emigration Commission

  • Date: 1942
  • Format: document
  • Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Susie Stern and Beate Stern (Bea Karp) with Uncle Siegfried

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Susie Stern and Beate Stern (Bea Karp)

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Susie Stern Age 2

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

Susie Stern

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Suse Stern Immigration Document

  • Format: document
  • Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Survivor’s story a lesson in genocide

  • Date: March 13, 2015
  • Creator(s): Bell, Mike
  • Format: newspaper

Survivor Bea Karp has no plans to stop talking about Holocaust

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

Stolpersteine Stones

  • Format: photograph

Stern Family in Lauterbach, Germany

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Stern Family Home in Lauterbach, Germany

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Stern Family Home

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

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

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

Speaking for the Masses

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

Small Resistances

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

Searching for Humanity

  • Date: January 11, 2017
  • Format: testimony

Search Request for Beate Stern from United Kingdom Search Bureau

  • Date: October 16, 1944
  • Format: document

Safety meant always moving

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

Rosa Stern ID Photo

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

Rosa Stern

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Rosa Stern

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Pappenheimer, Deborah

Resistance: Simone Saves Refugee Children

  • Date: 2019
  • Format: digitalpub
  • Source: North Carolina Council on the Holocaust

Request for News on Beate Stern (Bea Karp), October 16, 1944

  • Date: October 16, 1944
  • Format: document

Remembering the Past

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

Remembering Bea Karp

  • Date: March 7, 2019
  • Creator(s): Hamor, Brittany
  • Format: newspaper

Refugee Committee Interview Sheet, July 30, 1946

  • Date: July 30, 1946
  • Format: document

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

  • Format: document
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