Albert Korn (known as “Al” to his friends) was born on November 20th, 1920 in Kassel, Germany. The youngest of four siblings, Albert’s parents Aaron and Chana along with his brother Jacob and sisters Giselle, Mary and Berthe, moved to Germany from Poland just before he was born. Shortly after Albert’s birth, the family moved from Kassel to Aachen, Germany where he would live until he was bar mitzvahed at age 13.
In 1934, Albert’s family left Germany for Spain as Nazi influence in the region was increasing. The family settled in Barcelona for four years where Albert learned to speak Spanish and English, and discovered his love for swimming in the Mediterranean Sea and Flamenco music.
Due to an outbreak of civil war, Albert and his family left Spain for Marseille, France where they spent a year until French authorities informed them that they would no longer be allowed to stay because they were transients with no required visa. The French authorities suggested that they go back to Germany or Poland. The family however knew that this was not an option and began searching for an alternative. They tried to go to England, Canada, Australia and the United States, but were denied because they had no blood relatives and not enough money. They soon found out that the only place they would be allowed to freely enter without any paperwork was Shanghai, China.
At the time, Shanghai was known as an ‘open city’ where anyone could freely enter. Although reluctant at first, the family reasoned this to be the only viable option and headed by steamboat to China in 1938. As an interesting note, this is also where Albert’s future wife’s family would relocate after leaving Germany, although as fate would have it, Albert and Gabriele would not officially meet until living in the United States.
Although Shanghai allowed Albert and his family to flee central Europe and escape the influence of the Nazi regime, the living conditions in the “refugee camps” were less than tolerable. Despite these hardships, Albert found his way. Because he was able to speak Spanish from his time in Spain, he was able to frequently leave the refugees’ “Designated Area” so that he could be a translator for the Mexican Consulate. This enabled him to socialize and experience life in Shanghai beyond the confines of the refugee camps.
Albert told how many Chinese people in Shanghai were very poor, often living under even less desirable conditions than most of the refugees. He told how there was never any violence or hatred provoked by the Chinese people toward the thousands of Jewish refugees that had freely come to live alongside them, and that they had coexisted peacefully. In addition, even though the Japanese took control of major portions of Shanghai and became an ally of Nazi Germany, they offered a refuge and last resort for thousands of Jewish people, even allowing them to practice their faith.
Albert recalled an incident in Shanghai when he was involved in a Jewish ceremony with other refugees. Unexpectedly, Japanese soldiers abruptly came on the scene with their bayonets drawn. Not knowing how the soldiers would react, a sense of fear overcame the group. As the soldiers became aware that a religious ceremony was taking place, they withdrew their bayonets and left. Albert told this story with tears of joy in his eyes.
After WWII had ended and while still in Shanghai, Albert got a job with the United States Army-Air Forces, working in military personnel as a classification specialist. He enjoyed this work and made the acquaintance of an American soldier by the name of Russell Stinebring, whose father was Chief of Police of a small town in upstate New York.
After two years of working for the U.S. Air Force in Shanghai, Albert was awarded the Emblem For Civilian Service and obtained several letters of recommendation from Air Force officials as well as an affidavit of support by Russell Stinebring's father, Captain Stinebring, to enable him to come to the United States. He was allowed to enter the U.S. in 1947 and lived with the Stinebrings in Niagara Falls, New York where he worked in a department store selling furniture. After five years in the U.S. Albert became a citizen, and shortly thereafter decided to move to San Francisco and get into the real estate business. He obtained his brokers license and sold property for the next fifthteen years.
On November 15, 1970 Albert married Gabriele Abraham. Around this time, he left his work as a real estate agent and started working for the assessor’s office in San Francisco as a real estate appraiser. He remained at this job until his retirement sixteen years later.
Al and Gabriele Korn were happily married for thirty-eight years, having two delightful children Naomi and Matthew. Albert also had the benefit of experiencing his two loving grandchildren, Trevor and Kylie.
In his spare time, Albert enjoyed swimming and keeping fit at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center. In fact, he took such great care of himself that when most people attempted to guess his age, they were short 10-15 years. About a year before he passed away, his brain was examined and underwent some testing. After looking at the results the attending physician commented to Albert that, “This is not a brain of a man in his eighties! How do you keep it so young?”
Albert was a passionate animal-lover. He had to admire every passing dog that came his way and made everyone who stepped into his home well aware of his front doormat that read, "And Thou shalt have dominion over the animals-- except, of course, the cats.” He couldn’t resist donating his money to countless animal charities and had pictures of various animals all over his office. In fact, his last spoken words were, “Gizmo and Maddie”, his beloved dog and cat.
Albert also loved reading the newspaper and keeping up with current events, studying WWII, being with his family and friends and making new friends wherever he went. He will always be remembered, and it is with great love and honor to create this website on his behalf.