Eirich, Frederick R. (born Friedrich R.)
Biographical details: 23 May 1905 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 13 May 2005 in Hightstown, USA
Occupation: Chemist
Exile: 1938 United Kingdom, 1940 Australia, 1943 United Kingdom, 1947 USA
In exile, Frederick R. Eirich initially worked at the University of Cambridge. In 1940, however, he was interned and deported on the "Dunera" to Australia. After his release in the autumn of 1941, he conducted research at the University of Melbourne. In May 1943, he returned to his family in Cambridge. Despite all the deprivations, he later regarded his period of exile as positive for his career.
Eirich, Maria (née Dehne)
Biographical details: 31 March 1911 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 28 July 2007 in Hightstown, USA
Exile: 1938 United Kingdom (via Yugoslavia), 1947 USA
Maria Eirich fled with her daughter Ursula via Yugoslavia to the United Kingdom where she settled with her husband, Frederick R. Eirich, in Cambridge. In 1940, Maria Eirich was interned along with her two-year-old daughter as "enemy aliens" on the Isle of Man. Frederick R. Eirich was interned in Australia. After their release in 1941, Maria and Ursula Eirich lived in Cambridge.
Elk, Benjamin (Benno)
Biographical details: 14 July 1879 in Memel (now: Klaipėda, Lithuania) – 1 March 1959 in New York, USA
Occupation: Dentist
Exile: 1938 Belgium, 1940 France, 1941 Cuba, 1941 USA
In the wake of the November pogroms of 1938, Benjamin Elk was arrested and taken to Buchenwald. After his release, the Elk family fled across the green border to Belgium at the end of 1938. As their daughter Charlotte was born in France and did not count as part of the German contingent, she was able to emigrate to the USA in 1939. Benjamin and his wife Anna Elk reached the USA in 1941 via Cuba.
