German-born physicist Arno Penzias escaped the Holocaust with the help of a benefactor he never met. That secret act of generosity changed his life—and our understanding of the universe
On the eve of World War II, the owner of a Belleville, New Jersey, paint shop got a frantic knock on his door. It was a 28-year-old German immigrant named Leo Gelbart, who’d been going door to door, appealing to members of the town’s Jewish community.
The older of the two boys in the photograph, Arno Penzias, is 89 now. A retired Nobel Laureate radio astronomer, he lives in northern California. He was born in Munich in 1933, as Hitler rose to power. In 1938 his family wasrounded up with other Jews who held Polish passports and forced aboard a train to Poland for deportation. But their train was delayed, and Poland invalidated their passports just before their train reached the border.
"I came to the United States thirty-nine years ago as a penniless refugee from Nazi Germany. For my family and myself, America has meant a haven of safety as well as a land of freedom and opportunity. At a time when the promise and meaning of American institutions are often questioned, I feel compelled to bear witness to the fulfillment of the American promise I am very proud to be an American, very grateful to America and to the American people.
After some online searching, David Penzias dialed a number he found for a Robert Yudin in New Jersey, whom he was pretty sure was Barnet Yudin’s grandson. It was an unexpected call that led to a unique connection. The Yudins were taken aback at first; Barnet had died of cancer in 1950. His wife, son, and daughter were also deceased, and his grandchildren had no recollection of Barnet mentioning a German family he’d aided with an affidavit.