Constantly on the Run: The Survival Story of Leo Diamanstein

Josef Leo was born in Heidelberg, Germany on December 1, 1924, to Polish immigrants. He was the youngest of five children. His father was a successful quilt maker. His family was forced to relocate a number of times during the 1920s and 30s due to increasing antisemitism. They ended up in Frankfurt, where they resided until 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor. By 1934 it became clear that they had to flee again. They relocated to Italy, the only country that would open its borders to them at that time. This began the constant movement of the family to remain alive.

The Diamansteins had to leave everything behind in Germany, but the Italians were welcoming.

Leo’s father, a highly skilled and resourceful entrepreneur, was able to start a quilting business there. Once again politics dictated that the family had to leave Italy and eventually were moved into an Italian internment camp. As conditions worsened with more refugees, in 1940 the Diamanstein family was allowed to leave and settle in a small town, Arsiero, Italy. They lived there quietly for a while, his father again designing and making quilts. On July 25, 1943, Mussolini was removed from power and shortly thereafter, Italy came under German occupation.

There were many near misses for the Diamansteins but quick thinking and good luck kept them alive. They tried to hide as a family but that was difficult, so the brothers decided to go into the Italian mountains and luckily found a small community that took them in. The people there even began arguing among themselves who was going to have the privilege of hiding them in their homes! Yet in spite of the kindness of many Italians who tried to protect them, their lives were in constant danger. Leo described the agony of not knowing which way to go or what to do next. By the end of October, it became clear that they had to leave. Trying to stay ahead of the Germans was foremost in their minds. The family split again with Leo, his brother Maurice and his mother boarding a train at night and heading to Milan. The family pretended that they were Italian and could not understand German. Leo described this as an utterly terrifying experience. When they finally arrived in Milan, they found out that a curfew had been imposed after the Italian underground had blown up railroad tracks. Thus, Leo and his family were forced into an underground tunnel with hundreds of others. He recalls the Gestapo going back and forth, shining flashlights in everyone’s faces. No one in the crowd knew what the Germans were looking for, and at every moment, it seemed like this would be their end. But by the next morning, curfew had ended and they walked out.

Ultimately they fled through the Alps to Switzerland, where they were, once again, arrested and interned. Through many adventures and misadventures in Switzerland, they survived the war. His father established a business in Italy and Leo was working with him. Leo was quite happy to continue to work with his father and remain in Italy, but his brothers, Maurice and Adolph, and his sister, immigrated to the US. They urged Leo to follow, and he complied. After the war, Leo ended up meeting and marrying his wife, Dory, moving to Denver, CO for a time. They had one daughter, Colette D. Brouillette. Leo joined his brothers and their families and ultimately settled in the upstate, Greenville, SC. Leo and Adolph owned a toy store. Maurice and his wife Helen were members of Temple of Israel in Greenville, SC. After they retired and closed the business, Leo became an interpreter and translator and began teaching evening classes at Furman.

Leo died on August 16, 1998 at the age of 73. He was a member of Temple of Israel in Greenville, SC. ■