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6 Friday, October 25, 2024 brooklintowncrier.com Otto Kahn was five years old when his family fled from Lorsch, a small village in Nazi Germany, In the fall of 1933, his father, Leopold (Leo), was arrested and taken from their family farm to Osthofen, one of the earliest Nazi concentration camps. Although he was released on February 24, 1934, the family's life was forever changed. This was the beginning of a long journey of suffering and loss for Otto, his mother Carola, his father and his brothers Ernst, Berthold, Heinz, and Fritz. In September, 1935, the Nazis enacted the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped legal rights from anyone with one Jewish parent, making them non-citizens of Germany and removing all protections for Jews. On November 9, during what became known as Kristallnacht, battalions of SA and SS troops, along with violent mobs of local police, civilians, and members of the Hitler Youth, attacked Jewish businesses and institutions across Germany, Austria, and Nazi- occupied Czechoslovakia. Buchenwald The next day, Leopold Kahn and other Jewish men were arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp where he was imprisoned for a month. There, he was forced to sign documents agreeing to emigrate as a condition of release. Compelled to leave Germany, the Kahn family abandoned their farm and extended family, fully aware their loved ones faced almost certain death. Otto's mother's cousin, whom the brothers referred to as Uncle Ralph Layton, was a highly respected international stockbroker and head of the London Stock Exchange. He was heavily involved in efforts to help Jews escape from Germany and was mainly responsible for assisting the Kahns in emigrating. Their journey took them by train and boat, from Germany to Holland, then to England and finally to Canada. Safe and free In his 2019 book Beating the Odds, Otto wrote, "I remember my mother's voice, a little shaky from her tears but strong and sure. 'We are alive and free,' she said. 'We are together. We are safe. We are free.' " The Kahn family's first home was on a Mt. Zion farm, two miles north of Kinsale, where they lived from 1939 to 1950. The Canadian Jewish Congress set them up with a real estate agent who helped them find a farm that was within their budget. The one in Mount Zion had been abandoned and was in terrible shape so they were able to buy it with the $8,000 Ralph Layton loaned them. The 122-acre farm primarily raised livestock, including cattle, pigs, chickens, and geese. The farmhouse was in poor condition when they arrived, so the family's first priority was to make it livable. Initially, neighbouring farmers were wary of them because they were German Jews and news of the concentration camps had not yet reached Canada. Otto and his brothers Bert, Fred, and Henry, whose names were anglicized from German to avoid being ostracized, attended the one- room schoolhouse at Mount Zion. Older brother Ernie went to Brooklin High School which was at the corner of Winchester and Baldwin where Shoppers Drug Mart stands today. Large farm In the spring of 1950, the family moved to a 110-acre dairy farm at 145 Winchester Road West, which they purchased from Leslie and Mabel Hall. That parcel of land just behind Longo's is now being developed for housing and retail. The Halls' son-in-law, Fred Young ran a plumbing business in Brooklin and was hired to install indoor plumbing and build a bathroom. Over time, Henry, Bert, and Ernie and their father Leo shifted the farm's focus to cattle trading. They also invested in a trucking company to transport cattle and horses. Meanwhile, as Otto completed high school, Fred studied to become a surgeon. Otto later attended McMaster University earned a Bachelor of Science in biology. After graduating in 1957, he enrolled at the University of Toronto to study medicine. During his first year of medical school, Otto interned part-time at Whitby Psychiatric State Hospital in the mornings and worked afternoons at General Motors in Oshawa. Banting Institute In his second year, he was hired as a summer research student at the Banting Institute in Alliston, founded by Sir Frederick Banting, the discoverer of insulin. His third and fourth years were focused on clinical rotations at various Toronto hospitals. He graduated from medical school in 1961 and worked at hospitals in New York, Boston, and Hamilton, specializing in cardiology. In 1964, Otto applied for a fellowship to study pacemaker technology, then in its infancy, at U of T. His research on mercury zinc batteries for internal pacemakers led to the publication of his groundbreaking paper on "runaway pacemakers" in the Canadian Medical Journal in 1965. That same year, he applied for American citizenship to pursue a cardiology fellowship at Harvard. His expertise in pacemaker implantation eventually allowed him to pass the National Board of Medical Examiners exam, qualifying him to practice in the USA. In 1967, he moved to Orange County, California, where he joined his brother Fred's surgical practice. Studied cardiology Though his childhood was shaped by the horrors of Nazi Germany and Kristallnacht, he proved to be resilient, persevering to become a renowned cardiologist. His groundbreaking work in pacemaker technology saved countless lives. Dr. Otto Kahn became a father at age 50, has two children and still lives in California. He and his family transformed their personal tragedy as Holocaust survivors into a legacy of healing, making a lasting impact on both the world of medicine and the lives of those he touched. The Doctor Who Escaped From The Holocaust By Jennifer Hudgins Family photo: Otto is front right