In Margot is given to a foster family in Frankfurt, Sandweg In her parents arrived in Frankfurt, too. Many relatives were deported to Buchenwald. They both were born in Germany in but they were brought up in quite different family environments.
Here, in a rural atmosphere, she could experience antisemitism very clearly. Her father was arrested and brougth to Buchenwald in November In order to continue attending school, Margot had to move to a foster family in Frankfurt. Her parents then followed her to Frankfurt in Together they managed to escape to the USA in a most hazardous way. But her grandparents and more relatives had to suffer deportation. Herbert Stern grew up in a well protected family surrounding in the Frankfurt Westend.
His family escaped to the USA as early as It took a long time before Margot and Herbert Stern felt ready to accept the invitation of the City of Frankfurt.
On the one hand, both of them were impressed by the attention they were given by the young generation, especially their interest in talking to them, but on the other hand, the tour back to Germany evoked mixed emotions. They belong to the few surviving Frankfurt residents of the first generation. Both emigrated to the USA with their families. They grew up in very different circumstances, however. While Herbert comes from a well-situated Frankfurt family, Margot Kahn comes from a humble, rural environment.
Their experiences under the Nazi regime are also very different. In , Margot and Herbert Stern decided, after long hesitation, to accept the invitation of the City of Frankfurt. But Margot Stern declined the invitation of Gerhild Kirschner to return to the places of her childhood. The experiences Margot had as a little girl are too painful. Gerhild Kirschner moved from Frankfurt to Bonbaden in , where she still lives today.
