Allen Saxon

I don’t know much about my father-in- law’s childhood. I do know that he grew up in a wealthy Jewish family in pre-war Germany. His relatives were successful bankers and film producers. His uncle, Seymour Nebenzal, is mentioned in books on the history of German film and was the producer of the classic “M” starring Peter Lorre. My father-in-law described a lonely childhood marked by memories of riding in a chauffeur driven limousine to kindergarten and spending after school hours by himself at the Berlin Zoo.

He described his parents as being unaffectionate, formal and removed from him emotionally. From an early age he was sent to boarding schools including Haileybury in England. When he had his own family he  made certain to relish his role as a father and be a gentle presence in his daughters’ lives.

Like many wealthy Jews who feared the spectre of Nazism, his family was able to escape Germany in the 1930s. Their exodus was not without a high cost, They lost their art collection, jewelry, silver, and other household possessions. Although accepted at Oxford, my father-in-law followed, attending Cornell and later putting his linguistic skills to use as an interrogator of Hermann Goring at the end of the war.

This bust of him as a child remains treasured by our family and bears a striking resemblance to my own grandson. Whenever I look at it, I think of my wife’s grandparents bringing it to this country when perhaps they could have substituted more valued works of art. Despite their seeming inability to display parental love I wonder if they really were not so distant after all.