On February 14, 1939, Dietrich and Irmgard disembarked at the port of Havana from the M.S. Orinoco. A few days later, on February 26, they formalized their migration status at the Cuban Registry of Foreigners. The identity documents issued on the island still reflected the stigma of German racial laws: Irmgard was registered as “Irmgard Sara Gerstel” and Dietrich as “Fritz Israel Gerstel.” In Dietrich’s record, in the box corresponding to the left fingerprint, the official wrote the word “missing,” leaving administrative evidence of his physical disability.

The couple settled in the El Vedado neighborhood, specifically at Calle 6, No. 357. This location was chosen on medical recommendation, as the city’s climate was considered harmful to Dietrich’s health. Despite the tropical beauty, Dietrich described Havana as an expensive and isolated city, where the German refugee community was omnipresent.

The central event of this stage was the birth of their first child, Thomas Walter Gerstel Ostberg, on March 26, 1939, at the Municipal Maternity Hospital “América Arias.” Dietrich proudly informed relatives and acquaintances of the birth of his “Cuban relative,” a symbol of life defying the persecution left behind in Europe.

Files: 1939.02.25_Sworn Declaration Havana.pdf 1939.05.30_Dr. J. González. Medical Certificate Havana.pdf 1939.06.17_Ministry of Finance. Official Tax Receipt Cuba.pd

Entrepreneurship and Crisis in the Caribbean

The economic situation in Cuba was precarious. Dietrich, unable to practice certain trades and with resources exhausted after paying immigration bonds, requested help from local Jewish organizations such as the Jüdischen Hilfsverein.

Nevertheless, demonstrating entrepreneurial resilience, he ventured into the real estate market. He founded an apartment rental agency that, according to his own accounts, achieved some initial success. However, this enterprise was cut short by changes in Cuban labor laws and corruption in the immigration office, a context aggravated by the St. Louis ship crisis in May 1939, an event Dietrich witnessed that increased hostility toward refugees.

During this time, Dietrich retained possession of an Opel automobile he had managed to bring from Germany, an unusual asset that impressed locals on the island dominated by American cars. He attempted to sell it to raise capital and even planned a road trip to New York for that purpose, but U.S. visa restrictions and the lack of buyers in Cuba frustrated these plans.

Files: 1939.04.03_Dietrich to Jewish Aid Association. Request for financial aid Cuba-Germany.pdf 1939.04.27_Alfred Gerstel to Dietrich. Germany-Cuba.pdf

The Leap to Venezuela

Unable to remain in Cuba or enter the United States due to restrictive laws on disability, Dietrich decided to migrate to Venezuela, a country for which he had already obtained an entry permit.

The lack of resources forced the family to split. Dietrich traveled first with his brother-in-law Hellmuth Ostberg aboard the Kuba steamer, departing on June 17, 1939. Irmgard, the newborn Thomas, and her brother Richard Ostberg had to remain in Havana for several more weeks, in extreme financial fragility, until Dietrich could send the money for their tickets from Caracas.

The move involved the logistics of transporting all their luggage, which included “5 boxes, 1 wardrobe trunk, 2 hand suitcases, 1 baby carriage, 1 crib, and 1 baby bathtub,” according to the quotation from the transport company Max Langner.

Files: 1939.06.12_Luggage transport quotation Cuba-Venezuela.pdf 1939.06.24_Passenger landing card Puerto Rico.pdf

Settlement in Caracas: Los Jardines del Valle

Dietrich arrived in La Guaira in June 1939, and his wife joined him in July. Initially, they stayed at the boarding house of an acquaintance named Erika, but soon rented a small furnished house at Calle 12, No. 86, in the Los Jardines del Valle neighborhood, south of Caracas. This area, originally built as workers’ housing, offered them a first home with a garden where they cultivated fruits and flowers.

The contrast with Cuba was immediate. Dietrich described Caracas as a city with a “wonderful and fresh” climate, surrounded by mountains, but “incredibly expensive.” Although he initially faced unemployment and the language barrier, he quickly began to establish networks, contacting banks and companies to offer his accounting services.

In Venezuela, Dietrich succeeded in removing the name “Israel” from his documentation, symbolically regaining his full civil identity. Despite initial difficulties and the anti-German sentiment provoked by the war, the family began to put down roots, vaccinating against smallpox and adapting to life in the tropics.