After the Reich Pogrom Night, Werner's father Robert Gideon was deported to Dachau concentration camp on November 11, 1938 and interned there. After two weeks he was released on the condition that he leave Germany immediately.

Throughout his life, his father did not talk about his time in Dachau. He only said, "It was bad."

When the Nazis paraded through the streets, Werner's grandfather Michael Bloch was hidden on the first floor with the Strengert family.