Lewart, Cass

Cass Lewart was born in Lodz, Poland April 27, 1930. His father was a lawyer, and his mother a concert pianist. The war began in Poland on September 1, 1939: to escape the war zone, the family left during the middle of the night for a 120-mile multiple day trip from Lodz to Warsaw. Their train was attacked and disabled by German dive bombers, but they did manage to get there and stay with friends. Cass’s father had managed to get forged ID papers for the family, which had them listed under various Christian denominations. Cass learned to be Catholic, and as he spent time in a Christian monastery he learned to be an altar boy and went to confession. The danger of being denounced was omnipresent, so whenever someone emerged and tried to blackmail them the family had to be on the move. In 1942 Cass and his parents were denounced, and then arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo. In a holding cell, they were advised not to admit to anything; Cass’s parents were resourceful, and they bribed the guards. Cass’s father developed a severe abdominal illness during this time – they were reluctant to go to the hospital, but they did in the end.  Unfortunately Cass’s father was too ill, and he died.  Cass and his mother were able to establish new identities and find a place to live outside the ghetto, and they hid in plain sight. The Russians came through their area in January 1945, pushing the Germans back and liberating the people of Poland. Cass learned of the many family members that were killed during these months and into the postwar period.  He and his mother were separated for a time in the chaotic aftermath of the war – a period where Cass joined the Boy Scouts in the Warsaw resistance –  but they were fortunately reunited. They applied for a visa to the US, but there was a 10-year wait due to the quota system in effect at the time. He spent the immediate postwar years in Switzerland, where he completed college and became an electrical engineer. In 1955 the American Embassy granted Cass and his mother their visas and soon after they arrived in NYC. Cass went on to be an electrical engineer for IBM and Bell Labs for 20 years, and he married and raised his family, staking his place in postwar America.  Crestwood students were able to zoom with Cass Lewart in March 2026.