Tag: Never Forget

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American “Grande Horizontale” and Nazi Collaborator

From the time she was a very small girl living in San Francisco, Florence Juliette Antoinette Lacaze knew she wanted a special place in life. Florence quickly determined that because she wasn’t born into that “special place,” she would have to develop it on her own. From that day on, everything Florence did was a calculated move to enhance her position in society, create wealth, and as we’ll see after France’s liberation, protect her physical self and reputation (Florence perfected the art of lying to enhance her life story). In other words, Florence built her entire life around her. While Florence was a benefactor to her friends, she was ruthless towards her enemies. She shared several common traits with her deceased father-in-law, Jay Gould, the notorious 19th-century “Robber Baron.”

Did You Know?

Many of us were required to read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby while in junior high or early high school. Remember those days reading about East Egg and West Egg? East Egg was the aristocratic section of town while West Egg belonged to the nouveau rich. The character social types were in love with money, social standing, and generally created a lot of messes in their lives (and others). Fitzgerald finished the first draft and sent it to his editor. It was promptly sent back to the author because Fitzgerald “had not sufficiently developed the characters with any believability.” Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda were, at the time, fixtures on the French Riviera staying in Frank and Florence’s hotel, in Juan-les-Pins. They were first hand observers of mid-1920s high society and the exploits of the crowd which included Florence. So, when the draft was sent back for revisions, Fitzgerald fleshed out his characters using the group of people orbiting around Florence. When the novel was published, it met lukewarm reviews but more revealing was the fact that none of the Riviera crowd recognized themselves.

Let’s Meet Florence

You’ve probably never run across the subject of our blog today. Florence Lacaze Gould (1895−1983) was and is to this day, an enigma. Very little has been written about her, much to the delight of her estate and foundation. In fact, the availability of images of Florence is tightly controlled by her foundation. Her legacy (and that of her husband, Frank Gould) are nowhere to be seen in written accounts of the numerous properties they founded or developed into very successful businesses. Read More American “Grande Horizontale” and Nazi Collaborator

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The Auschwitz Tatooist

Entrance gate to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Administration building likely on the left. Photo by anonymous (c. 1955). German Federal Archives. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-32279-007/CC-BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

At the age of 25, he stepped off the first transport train carrying Jews to KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau in April 1942. Lale Sokolov (1916−2006), then known as Ludwig “Lale” Eisenberg, was soon to exchange his name for a number. He would never be allowed to forget the number—32407—as it was tattooed on his arm. Before long, Lale would take over the duties from the prisoner who tattooed his arm and begin almost three years as the camp’s primary tetovierer (tattooist). Several months later, Lale would tattoo 34902 onto the arm of his future wife.

Did You Know?

The Dachau concentration camp opened in March 1933 and did not cease operations until April 1945. It was the first camp established under the Nazi regime and the only one to survive the entire twelve years of the Third Reich. It was built to hold political prisoners (as time went on, Polish prisoners would dominate the camp’s population). Dachau was never intended to become an industrialized extermination camp such as Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Dachau deaths were primarily from beatings, malnutrition, disease (e.g., typhus), and suicide. It is impossible to accurately assess the final number deaths attributed to Dachau.

KL Auschwitz 

The main camp known as Auschwitz I was built in May 1940 in the newly annexed area of Poland. It was originally constructed to house Polish political prisoners. By September 1941, exterminations had begun and the Nazis determined a second camp was needed. So, by March 1942, a sub-camp named Auschwitz II-Birkenau was completed with its first gas chamber.

Entrance to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Photo by Stanislaw Mucha (c. 1945). German Federal Archives. Bundesarchiv, B 285 Bild-04413/Stanislaw Mucha/CC-BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
Entrance to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Photo by Stanislaw Mucha (c. 1945). German Federal Archives. Bundesarchiv, B 285 Bild-04413/Stanislaw Mucha/CC-BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

Nazi plans for the Final Solution had been finalized in January 1942 and by early 1943, Himmler decided to expand Birkenau and increase its capacity as an extermination camp. It is estimated that 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz with 1.1 million murdered. More than 90 percent or 1.0 million of the people murdered here were Jews (in other words, one in six Jews who perished in the Holocaust were murdered at Auschwitz). Watch a short documentary on Auschwitz. Read More The Auschwitz Tatooist