Eric Kandel was born on November 7, 1929, in Vienna. Shortly after, Eric's father established a toy store. But, although they were thoroughly assimilated and acculturated, they left Austria after the country had been annexed by Germany in March 1938. As a result of Aryanization ("Arisierung"), attacks on Jews had escalated and Jewish property was being confiscated. When Eric was 9, he and his brother Ludwig, 14, boarded the "Gerolstein" at Antwerp, Belgium, and joined their uncle in Brooklyn on May 11, 1939, to be followed later by his parents.