Isidor (usually just called Isi) Kurzweil was born in Würzburg on January 2, 1918, the second child of Moses Kurzweil and Lina née Finke. His father, who came from Bratislawa (then Hungary, now Slovakia), held the office of cantor and shochet in the Franconian community of Mönchsroth at that time. Isidor also had three brothers: Walter (*1915), Adolf (*1920) and Theo (*1926).

In March 1921, the family of then five moved to Bad Kissingen, where Isidor's father had taken over the position of cantor and shochet. The family lived here in the Jewish Community House on Promenadestrasse (then Maxstrasse 10). As Isi recalled, the children received "a certain military, albeit strictly religious, upbringing," which can certainly be explained by the professional career of the father, who had been an officer in the Imperial and Royal Army. 

In August 1924, the Kurzweil family left the Franconian spa town again, for Isidor's father took up a position as cantor and shochet in Treuchtlingen in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, which he held until 1938.

The family lived there in the Uhlengasse in the front building of the synagogue, which was called the "Judenschule" and was traditionally the home of the community's cantor.

After attending elementary school in Treuchtlingen, Isi transferred to the Realschule in Weißenburg, and in 1933 his parents sent him to Bratislava, his father's birthplace, where he attended school for a year and a half. Thus, unlike his parents and siblings, Isi did not directly experience the Nazi policy of exclusion, for he stayed in Germany only briefly during vacations, once or twice a year. In November 1934, he left Slovakia again and, by now 16 years old, prepared for his emigration to Palestine in a Hachshara camp in Enschede (Netherlands).

Shortly before his emigration, Isi visited his parents and his youngest brother Theo in Treuchtlingen once again; it was to be his last meeting with them. As far as the time of the emigration is concerned, different information can be found: In his curriculum vitae, Isi states spring 1936, whereas the immigration files in Israel list April 1937.

Isidor first settled near Tel Aviv in Kibbutz Noar Agudati near Kfar Saba. In 1938, his older brother Walter, who had last led a hachshara training in Czechoslovakia, also emigrated to Palestine. And in early 1939, his brother Adolf (who called himself Amam in Palestine) also arrived, after he had been released from imprisonment in the Buchenwald concentration camp. From him he learned details of Nazi atrocities, which prompted him to enlist in the British Army in the spring of 1940 as one of the first volunteers: "This is where I made my firm decision that whoever would take up arms against this violent man, I must be there...to contribute my utmost in the fight against these murderers of men." Isi Kurzweil recorded his experiences as a soldier in the British Army in a highly impressive contemporary document. (Memoirs of Isi Kurzweil, born in Treuchtlingen, Germany, regarding his experiences as a British Army soldier from Mandatory Palestine ).

What Isi Kurzweil was to experience in the following years and how he survived the Nazi era will only be briefly outlined here. Those who would like to learn more about his adventurous survival story can download and read our transcript of his handwritten notes in Gerrman (attached below as a PDF document).

Lebenslauf Isi Kurzweil, 96 KB

Isi Kurzweil fought as a British soldier against the invasion of German troops in Greece in the spring of 1941 and became a German prisoner of war. When the prisoners of war were taken to Germany by the Wehrmacht, he feared the worst because of his Jewish origins and even considered taking his own life. However, his status as a British prisoner of war guaranteed him a minimum of safety and protected him from possible deportation. Over the next few years, he was imprisoned by the Wehrmacht in various POW camps (Lamsdorf/Upper Silesia, Jakobswalde, Beuthen, in Jaworzno/Poland near Krakow) and conscripted to work for the Reichsbahn and in coal mines. While working in the Jaworzno coal mines, he became friends with a Polish student who belonged to the Polish underground movement. Well prepared and provided with identity papers, they both managed to escape. Their goal was to make their way east and make contact with the Russian side, which was obviously aware of the plan. In a daring action, both finally crossed the barrage of gunfire of the front line and reached a Red Army outpost unharmed. As a soldier in British uniform in the Red Army, who was treated very courteously by the Russian side, Isi Kurzweil then took part in the advance of Russian troops in Poland. Finally he successfully applied to the English consul for a return to Palestine. Shortly before the end of the war, an American ship brought him from Odessa to Port Said in Egypt, so that he was able to return to Palestine a short time later after an almost five-year odyssey. He learned from his brothers that their parents had perished in Theresienstadt. The fate of their youngest brother Theo, who was murdered in Auschwitz, was unknown to them at that time.

Isi (Ischak) Kurzweil was discharged from the British Army in 1946, and little is known about his further life. He was married to Edith and lived with her and their two children Moshe and Yael In Jerusalem. In 1984 Isi Kurzweil, together with his younger brother Amram (Adolf), visited Treuchtlingen again, where he had grown up as a child. Isidor Kurzweil died in January 2002, his wife two years later.