Lilli (Cohen) Kretzmer

Lilli (Cohen) Kretzmer was born in Germany, in Moenchen-Gladbach, Lower Rhineland, and studied law at the University of Bonn. She married Dr. Eugen Kretzmer, a dermatologist; they had two children: a daughter Lore, and a son Ernest.

The Kretzmers and LCK's mother left Germany in 1939, staying for a short time on the Isle of Man while waiting for papers allowing them to enter the United States. In 1940 they settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, where EK died in 1955.

In 1948 LCK became Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Office of the Worcester Section of the National Council of Jewish Women; she also chaired the newly-created Resettlement Department, which worked with the Jewish Family Service to help Jewish refugees who came to the United States after World War II. In the early 1950s, as a representative of the United Restitution Organization, she helped refugees from Germany fill out the necessary forms and file claims for restitution. In 1966 the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded LCK the Officer's Cross of the German Order of Merit in recognition of her work in aiding refugees.

With her earlier legal training and her experience in working with refugees, LCK was able to pass the necessary examination so that in 1949 the Board of Immigration Appeals of the U.S. Department of Justice licensed her to appear in court to handle cases in this field.

From the guide to the Papers, 1950-1976, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)