Why New Jersey?

Why New Jersey?

A reasonable question.

Was it the balmy climate?

The spectacular beaches?


NO!  It was the end of World War II.   Vienna had been heavily bombed and was in shambles.  There were no jobs for a fresh grad PhD chemist.  After graduation in 1948 Karl worked as an assistant at the University of Vienna and later did some part-time consulting, but chemistry jobs were non-existent.  By 1949 he had a wife and 2 kids but no real job.  Then President Harry Truman approved the top secret project "Operation Paperclip" that offered scientists a 2-year job opportunity in the USA after which they could return or remain permanently in the USA and become citizens.  This was a good deal.  So in 1953 our family moved to Long Branch, New Jersey! Karl got a job at Fort Monmouth working on battery research.  Our apartment complex had a swing set and a sandbox!

 [Note: The Russian government also collected German scientists with their families but at midnight and at gunpoint.  And no return trip.   Look up "Operation Osoaviakhim"] Wikipedia LINK.

My father Karl at age 20 in Vienna, Circa 1942.
He was studying chemistry at the University of Vienna

Karl, me, my sister Johanna and my mother Erna in front of a church in Vienna, 1952

Dr. Karl Kordesch, Vienna, 1952.
He earned his PhD from University of Vienna in 1948.

READ MORE ABOUT THE CONTROVERSIAL "OPERATION PAPERCLIP" HERE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip

My parents packed a small suitcase and secretly left Vienna by train, pretending to go on a short vacation in Germany.

Katharina, Karl, and Bianca (far right), at Westbahnhof train station, Vienna, March 1953.
Leaving Vienna by train to New York, NY, USA

This is my dad saying goodbye at the train station in Vienna.  Both of my grandmothers are in the photo.


We arrived at New York on a US Navy transport ship.

This is the ship that carried Karl, Erna, me and my sister Johanna to
New York City from Bremerhaven, Germany.
We arrived on March 31, 1953. USNS GENERAL HF HODGES T-AP144.

The USNS Gen. HF Hodges was scrapped in 1979.  Story and photos are here in Wikipedia.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_General_H._F._Hodges_(AP-144)

Me and my sister Johanna on board the USNS Gen. Hodges, 1953.

Karl was head of the Battery Division of the U.S. Signal Corps in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for two years.  We lived in an apartment in Long Branch.  My sister and I learned English at Our Lady Star Of The Sea school.  I was in kindergarten.    https://goo.gl/maps/mCevTGXmq9uh92be7

Erna with Johanna, me, and baby Kitty (1 month old) 20 February 1954, Long Branch, New Jersey.  Ein Ausflug in die "Prärie." (Outing to the prairie).  Notice our rolled-up flannel blue jeans.

My sister Jo and me (with training wheels), Long Branch New Jersey, January 1954

Karl showing off his hydrazine fuel-cell motorbike at Union Carbide Research Labs 1967

Karl joined the National Carbon Company at 117th St. Cleveland Ohio in 1955.  It was a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corp.   He worked at the UCC Research Labs at 12900 Snow Rd. Parma Ohio until 1977.   His whole career was inventing batteries and fuel cells.  But that's material for another blog!

Dr. Karl and his electric car, Lakewood, Ohio, 1970

This building was the Union Carbide Research Lab on Snow Road, Parma, Ohio.  Here is what it looks like today.    https://goo.gl/maps/NfcMjJnmPxYr4dA58

Karl passed away in 2011 in Eugene, Oregon.  More photos here.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/EM5Go8ebnZY6GU3k6

Wikipedia article on Karl Kordesch  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Kordesch

Karl and his fuel cell bike at Union Carbide Research Lab,
12900 Snow Road, Parma Ohio November 1973
The bike is now at the Technical Museum in Vienna, Austria

TIMELINE FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

• 1940: Kordesch begins his first year at the University of Vienna.
• 1941: Kordesch is conscripted into the German Armed Forces, interrupting his studies at the University of Vienna.
• 1944: Kordesch is wounded while serving in Russia.
• 1945: Kordesch is released from military service at the end of World War II, having attained the rank of Lieutenant Battery Leader.
• 1946: Kordesch and Erna Bӧhm are married on June 22, 1946. Kordesch returns to the University of Vienna to complete his studies.
• 1947: Johanna Kordesch, Karl and Erna's first child, is born on February 24, 1947 in Vienna, Austria.
• 1948: Kordesch receives his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Vienna. Kordesch works as a University Assistant at the University of Vienna until 1953.
• 1949: The second Kordesch child, Albert, is born on August 15, 1949 in Vienna, Austria. Kordesch accepts a part-time consulting position for Wiener Isolierrohr, Batterie, und Metallwarenfabrik, a battery manufacturer located in Vienna while continuing to work at the University of Vienna.
• 1953: As a part of Operation Paperclip, Karl Kordesch is invited to join the U.S. Signal Corps. Kordesch and his family move to the United States and Karl begins work as scientific staff member of the U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
• [Ref. Karl and Erna Kordesch Papers, 1906-2011, (Oregon State University Libraries)

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS STORY?

• Governments and wars can drastically affect the life trajectories of families!

• History can be painful to remember.  We need to channel that pain to motivate us to do better.  MUCH BETTER.  We must learn from history's errors.  And to do that we have to know what really happened.  

• We need to choose our leaders wisely.  Dump them if they don't perform well.

• Americans are quick to forgive and forget.  Former enemies become best friends in a few short years. Great!  "Forgive but don't forget!"  Examples: Germany, Viet Nam, Iraq, China, Russia... We cannot and should not carry grudges for thousands of years!!!

• Historical atrocities must appear alongside with national victories and national heroes in our history books.  And in our consciousness. 

• Our parent's endless love and sacrifices must be repaid to our children and grandchildren!