Strauss, Carol Kahn

The Kahn family can be traced back to the early 19th century in rural Westphalia. Alexander Kahn (1816-1909), a butcher, moved to Dortmund (Germany) in 1840, where he lived until his death at the age of 93. He married Berta née Zuckerberg (1827-1890), and they had eight children. Their son Abraham (1866-1919) was a businessman in Dortmund. In 1895, Abraham married Wilhelmine Strauss (1866-1956), and the couple had two sons, Walter (1896-1953) and Alfred (1899-1983).

Alfred Kahn entered Realgymnasium in Dortmund in 1910. Both he and his brother Walter served in the German army during World War I. After the end of the war, Alfred completed his final examinations at his Realgymnasium and found a job in an iron wholesale business. He left this job to study law at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, and eventually earned a law degree from the University of Erlangen in 1930. In 1921, Alfred got engaged to Rosa (alternatively Rosel) Baum, whom he had known since his high school years. Rosa contracted pneumonia and, after spending years in a sanatorium, died of the disease in 1931. Alfred’s nascent legal career was cut short after the Nazi party took power in 1933. In 1937, he married Lotte Landau (1912-2004). In December 1938, Alfred and Lotte immigrated via Holland to the United States and settled in New York City.

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