Lore, the daughter of Edith Sophie (Schmidt) and Ernst Leo Baer, had not yet turned two years old, in June 1940, when the Germans invaded Holland.
Lore's father worked in the steel industry, and her mother was a milliner. The family lived in Amsterdam, a large, cosmopolitan city. The Jews of Amsterdam were well integrated into the city's social, cultural and economic life.
When the Germans occupied Netherlands, they immediately undertook steps to separate the Jews from the rest of the population. Beginning in October 1940, they liquidated Jewish businesses and banned Jews from most professions. The rich were made poor and the middle class was reduced to subsistence levels. At first, the Dutch population resisted the anti-Jewish measures passed by the Germans. But the Germans reacted brutally, and they were able to break up any organized resistance.
In July 1941, the Jews of Amsterdam were forced to live in restricted ghetto areas. After May 1942, they were forced to wear the yellow star. Radios were taken away, as well as bicycles. Jews were not permitted in parks and were restricted as to the hours they could shop for food or even be in the street.
Beginning in mid-July 1942, the Germans began rounding up the Jews of Holland. They were first taken to transit camps, and from there to death camps in the "East", where they were murdered.
Lore's parents searched for a hiding place. They decided that Lore would be safer separated from them. She would have a better chance passing as a non-Jew than they would. They found a family in a small town willing to risk death to save their child. Four year-old Lore lived with this family for three years.
Lore's parents found refuge with a family in another small town. After the war they were reunited with their seven year-old child.
