Joe Quittner Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of two boxes and contains documents pertaining to Joe Quittner, his father Egon Quittner, and his mother Amalie Quittner. Most of the collection consists of correspondence, but there are also folders of notebooks and diaries, as well as university data belonging to Joe Quittner.
His personal, official and business correspondence makes up the greatest part of the collection, and is to be found in Series I (in folders 2-5). Many letters are addressed to Joe Quittner’s friends dealing with life changes such as engagement, marriage, or moving to another country, as well as to Canadian radio stations regarding their radio program and giving feedback on it.
There are also folders of family papers such as Egon and Amalie Quittner’s birth and marriage certificates; their citizenship certificates; their certificates of deregistration to Theresienstadt; as well as documents of their fate from Theresienstadt. The collection also includes essays by Joe Quittner on his life experiences, like his family background and his rescue through the Kindertransport. In addition, there are letters and reference letters; postcards; family pictures; as well as some newspaper and magazine clippings from the Nazi period, collected by Joe Quittner.
Series II consists of eight folders, which include various notebooks of Joe Quittner, mostly documenting his work as a student, 1949-1959. In reference to this, folders 1 through 5 contain different types of calculations, e.g. distance calculations, as well as tables, formulae, electrical circuit drawings, mind-maps, and some addresses. Also included are notes about the scientific and historical study of myths; sophists; mythology; and word meanings, which are to be found in folder 6. The last two folders contain scientific formulae.
Many documents in the collection are numerated by the donor, Joe Quittner, giving some item and context-level information about the documents. This numeration has been retained; a copy of the letters with this item and context-information is present in the first folder, as well as in the second, third, fourth and fifth folders of the collection.
Dates
- 1883-2014
- Majority of material found within 1930s-1960s
Creator
- Quittner, Joseph, 1923- (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English and 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
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. 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
Josef Kurt (later spelled Joseph, Joe, and J. K.) Quittner was born on August 15th, 1923 in Vienna (Austria). He grew up with his parents, Egon and Amalie Quittner (Weltmann), in an apartment in the 9th and then in the 8th district in Vienna. His parents owned a metal furniture manufacturing business. During the Nazi period, they were deported to Theresienstadt (or Terezin) concentration camp, were then deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where both died. Joe Quittner’s grandmother, Kamilla Quittner, was also deported to Theresienstadt, where she died on January 1, 1943.
In 1938 and in reference to his Jewish background, Joe Quittner was not allowed to continue school any longer, and therefore took courses in auto mechanics and English. On December 11th, 1938 he left on the Kindertransport to England. After attending schools, he worked as a radio engineer and finally found a job as a chief engineer. In January of 1949 he arrived in Toronto (Canada), where his uncle, who has been released from Dachau concentration camp in 1939, and also his aunt lived. Joe Quittner worked as a radio technician and enrolled at the University of Toronto, studying Electrical Engineering. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in Ontario (Canada), and became a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, based in New York.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Joseph (Joe) Quittner, mostly correspondence and notebook entries but also including photographs, pictures and newspaper clippings, family papers, personal and professional writings, and other personal documents. These materials reflect Joe Quittner’s childhood experiences in Vienna (Austria) during the Nazi regime, his escape via Kindertransport to England in 1938, and his work as a radio engineer in England as well as a radio technician in Canada. The collection also provides information about the rest of his family, especially his parents Egon and Amalie Quittner (Weltmann), who died in the Holocaust.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series.
Other Finding Aid
The collection includes letters from Joe Quittner with an item and context-level inventory. These have been retained in the collection.
Processing Information
During processing, the collection was organized into series. All related content was organized chronologically. Documents sent together by the donor were kept together during the processing of the archival collection.
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- Education, Higher
- Electrical engineers
- Kindertransports (Rescue operations)
- London (England)
- Manuscripts (documents)
- Notebooks
- Official documents
- Photographs
- Quittner family
- Quittner, Amalie, 1892-1943
- Quittner, Egon, 1883-1943
- Quittner, Joseph, 1923-
- Quittner, Kamilla, 1859-1943
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
- Toronto (Ont.)
- University of London
- University of Toronto
- Vienna (Austria)
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of Joe Quittner 1883-2014 AR 25561
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Verena Blatt
- Date
- © 2015
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from JoeQuittner.xml
Revision Statements
- February 2016:: dao links added by Emily Andresini.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
