On September 20, 1939, Robert and Elsa Gideon left Germany with Michael Bloch and followed the children Werner and Helga to Switzerland.

In November 1939, packed with only one suitcase per person, they took one of the last ships that would leave Europe. They sailed for two and a half weeks from Genoa to New York via Lisbon.

Vern remembers the arduous crossing:
"My mother used to tell me that the whole time I was saying:
'Mommy, the ship is rocking so much.' Over and over again."