Dyno Löwenstein
Dyno Löwenstein was a German-born individual who fled the Nazi regime in 1933, eventually settling in the United States after a perilous journey through France and the Caribbean. Born on November 29, 1914, in Berlin, he grew up in a politically active family that opposed Adolf Hitler, which led them to escape to Paris. Following the German occupation of France, Löwenstein and his mother sought refuge with the help of American Varian Fry, ultimately making their way to New York City.
In the U.S., Löwenstein initially worked in statistical research before joining the U.S. Army Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, where he served as a lieutenant. His role involved intelligence training, taking agents behind enemy lines, and aiding individuals fleeing Nazi oppression. After the war, he returned to New York, where he shifted his focus to education, becoming the director of Pictograph Corporation and authoring several books aimed at teaching young readers about statistics and economics.
Löwenstein's contributions to educational literature included practical guides like "Money: A First Book" and "First Book on Graphs," which remained relevant for decades. He passed away on October 13, 1996, in Ridgewood, New York, leaving behind a legacy of resilience and educational commitment.
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Dyno Löwenstein
Writer
- Born: November 29, 1914
- Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
- Died: October 13, 1996
- Place of death: Ridgewood, New York
Biography
Dyno Löwenstein was born on November 29, 1914, in Berlin, Germany, to Kurt Löwenstein and Mara Kerwel Löwenstein. When he was a young child, his parents supported the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) after World War I. Because they opposed Adolf Hitler, the Löwensteins fled from Germany in 1933 to Paris, France. Löwenstein attended Parisian schools, and received a diploma in statistics and economics at the Sorbonne.
Löwenstein’s father died in 1939. The next year, German troops invaded and occupied Paris and surrounding areas. Löwenstein and his mother left that city for Vichy, France. They feared capture because defeated French leaders had agreed to surrender German refugees who had sought asylum in France to Third Reich officials.
Varian Fry, an American representative of the Emergency Rescue Committee, had established a center at Marseilles, France, in 1940 to help vulnerable refugees and arranged for Löwenstein and his mother to escape from France. Löwenstein helped Fry at the center prior to March 25, 1941, when the Löwensteins and approximately two hundred refugees boarded the cargo freighter Capitaine Paul Lemerle, traveling from Marseille to Martinique in the Caribbean. During May, 1941, Löwenstein and his mother traveled on the Duc d’Aumale from Martinique to New York City. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum holds photographs Löwenstein donated, picturing him and refugees aboard those ships.
In New York, Löwenstein initially conducted statistical research for marketing firms. Within months of leaving France, Löwenstein went to Camp Ritchie in Maryland for intelligence training to learn about German military procedures, and then returned to Europe as an U.S. Army Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative from 1942 to 1945. A lieutenant, Löwenstein served as his unit’s training officer, took OSS agents behind Axis lines, evaluated enemies in prisoner-of-war camps who volunteered to assist Allies, and secretly traveled to enemy-held territory in Yugoslavia, Austria, and Italy, helping people flee from Nazis. He enjoyed daring aspects of his missions and outwitting German enemies. After the war, Löwenstein debriefed operatives.
Returning to New York, Löwenstein and his wife, Tilde Hoffman, lived in a Central Park West residence until the early 1960’s. They had two sons and one daughter. Löwenstein altered his name to Loewenstein then Lowenstein in correspondence. In 1950, he became director of Pictograph Corporation, which Rudolf Modley had founded in 1934 to create informational symbols, and wrote with Modley the 1952 book, Pictographs and Graphs: How to Make and Use Them.
Lowenstein created images for educational books and prepared maps for Fodor’s travel guides. He lived in several Queens neighborhoods, retiring from Pictograph Corporation in 1988. Lowenstein died at Ridgewood, New York, on October 13, 1996.
Lowenstein wrote books to help young readers understand statistics and economics. In 1963, he published Money: A First Book as a guide explaining banking procedures in the U.S. and internationally, providing relevant, useful examples and fun facts. By 1969, Lowenstein’s First Book on Graphs discussed how people interpreted graphs representing statistics, teaching readers techniques to create graphs. His books remained practicable and applicable decades later.