I Was Born in an Old Age Home: A Memoir

Susanne (Sanne) Kalter DeWitt, a Jew, was born in Munich, Germany in 1934, during the Nazi era. Her parents were members of the Munich Jewish community. Sanne describes her deportation to Poland, her arrest on Kristallnacht, followed by incarceration in Dachau concentration camp. She escaped Nazi Germany and lived as a refugee in a number of countries. Sanne eventually settled in the US, had a career in Molecular biology and raised a family in Berkeley, together with her husband, Dr. Hugh DeWitt. She is a member of the Modern Orthodox Synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel. A powerful memoir – the story of a life well lived after a harrowing and lucky childhood escape from Germany and the Nazis. Sanne DeWitt writes a fascinating, sometimes tragic, but often humorous, tale of her long, improbable life. Highly recommended. – Bill Mowat, Anti-Defamation League National Executive Committee Member A life well spent. Sanne DeWitt delivers a personal story of perseverance and strength—from escape from Nazi tyranny to her husband's courageous fight against above ground nuclear testing and the challenges her family experienced with a drug addicted daughter. Well worth the read. —Riva Gambert (Pitluck) This is a fascinating autobiography, written with unusual openness about the author's and her dear ones' foibles, but also showing her and their strengths. The trials she goes through, the quirks of fate, make stimulating reading. May she live to the proverbial hundred and twenty, enjoying her children's, grandchildren's and later great grandchildren's accomplishments. I Was Born in an Old Age Home is about and by an extremely talented, accomplished woman. —Judith Ronat M. D All memoirs reflect their authors’ lives, but this book truly stands out. Sanne de Witt has been a witness to many key events in modern history. As a child, she was fortunate to escape the Holocaust. As a consequence, throughout her life she felt responsibility for other children who were not so lucky, and she did her best to prevent the tragic mistakes of the past from repeating. It is amazing to see in this must-read book how much a single person with noble and deeply felt intentions can accomplish. —Vladimir Kresin, Prof., Dr., Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, CA “I am honored as well that I was able to read it. ... It is all in all an amazing (!!!!) testimony.” -- Marc E. Brüggemann, M.A., Ph.D. candidate/ELES Research Fellow, Joint Ph.D. [The Hebrew University Jerusalem/Frei Universität Berlin], Topic: Jewish History in the 20th century