On January 16, 1939, Erna fled from her home in Hilden, Germany, to stay with a cousin, Paula Cohn, in Amsterdam, at Nierstraat 59. Erna was deported from there, along with so many people, and murdered at Sobibor. Please see the letter in the photos, written by Paula to Erna's son, Carl Kaufmann, in the United States many years letter.