His life story was worthy material for a screenplay.
Jack’s family originally came from Stanislau, which until the end of World War I was part of the Hapsburg Empire. His mother’s and father’s families had moved independently to Vienna, Austria to avoid the Russian occupation during the war. At the end of World War I, Stanislau was ceded to Poland, and both families returned home. In 1920 his parents, Markus Hoffmann and Ernestine Ernst, were married and after Jack’s sister Lia and he were born, the family moved back to Vienna.
Jack lived a happy, typical middle class life in Vienna until the Nazis annexed Austria in March1938. As a child he watched from the street window of the family apartment as Adolf Hitler paraded by standing in his Mercedes. As an adult Jack steadfastly refused to ever own a German car.
In July 1939 his parents sent him to England as part of the Kindertransport program initiated by Great Britain after Kristallnacht. Jack was one of only 10,000 children from Germany and German-occupied countries who were allowed entry with a minimum of formalities. After living in England for a year, he rejoined his parents and sister in New York City; they had been among the last Jews to leave Vienna in September 1940.
Jack completed high school in New York City, served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 where he got his American citizenship, and graduated from New York University in 1950. In 1997 he enrolled in a master’s degree program in history under Dr. Karl Schleunes at UNC-G and was awarded an MA in 1999. He previously had a long career in foreign trade, including managing the American subsidiary of a major German industrial firm, Kloeckner, as well as the French steel company, Usinor’s American division.
As a member of the NC Council on the Holocaust, Jack recommended and took responsibility for bringing a traveling exhibit on the Kindertransport to North Carolina where it is still being shown to middle and high school students throughout the state. He also worked with teachers involved in teaching the Holocaust through the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
Jack is survived by his wife Nancy and his nieces, Florence Steinberger of Milwaukee, WI, Heidi Steinberger of Chapel Hill, NC, and nephew, Mark Steinberger of Venice, CA. Nancy and Jack were married in New York City in 1982 and subsequently lived in Menlo Park, CA; New York City; Great Barrington, MA; North Conway, NH; Charlotte and Raleigh, NC before moving to Greensboro in 1997.
A date for a memorial service at Beth David Synagogue will be announced.
Hanes-Lineberry Vanstory Chapel is assisting the Hoffmann family.
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