Hans Jakob Steinberger was born on May 25, 1921, in Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Germany, one of three sons of Ludwig and Berta Steinberger. His father was a cantor and religious teacher to the town’s small Jewish community; his college-educated mother supplemented the family income by giving English and French lessons. Soon, Dr. Steinberger wrote in a biographical sketch for the Nobel Foundation, “we were on the S.S. Washington, bound for New York, Christmas 1934.”The brothers were placed in separate but nearby foster homes in the Chicago area. Jack settled into the home of a wealthy grain broker named Barnett Faroll, who several years later arranged for the boys’ parents and younger brother to join them in Chicago, rescuing them from the Holocaust, Dr. Steinberger wrote. He studied chemistry at the University of Chicago in the evenings and worked at the family store on weekends.

Source: New York Times December 16, 2020 19:12 UTC