Jenny Pelz Collection

Collection

Identifier: AR 6568

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence sent from Jenny Pelz in Berlin to her children and grandchildren in the United States during the second World War.

The majority of the correspondence was sent by Jenny Pelz to her daughter Erna Summerfeld and grandchildren in the United States, letters to a few other recipients are also present. Most of the correspondence was sent from her residence in Berlin, with the exception of a postcard sent from Theresienstadt to a friend. Folder four contains letters sent after the war to members of Pelz's surviving family by family friends and acquaintances in Germany. Some of these letters contain accounts of Jenny Pelz's final days before deportation, of Pelz's time in Theresienstadt, and of conditions in Berlin after the war.

Two additional folders contain a small amount of handwritten poetry and some documents. The poetry was for the most part written by Erna Meier-Pelz (Erna Summerfeld), Jenny Pelz's daughter, during the 1910s. There is also a poem written by Erich Meier Pelz. The final folder contains photocopied documents related to Pelz's deportation in 1943, as well as postwar documents relating to restitution claims. Also included in this folder is a transcription of a letter, likely from 1943, in which Pelz lists her possessions and the friends with whom she left them before deportation.

Dates

1908-1966

Creator

Pelz, Jenny, 1874-1943 (Person)

Language of Materials

This collection is in German.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

Use Restrictions

Publication of materials only with permission of donor

For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Jenny Pelz, née Grünberg, was born in Schönlanke (today Trzcianka, Poland), married first to Hermann Meier, then to Adolf Pelz after Meier's death. From the materials in the collection, she appears to have spend most of her life in Berlin. She was deported in 1943 to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz, where she was murdered.

Extent

5 Folders

Additional Description

Overview

The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence sent from Jenny Pelz in Berlin to her children and grandchildren in the United States during the second World War.