Marianne Salinger Collection

Following a chronological order, the material in this collection is clustered around various individuals of Marianne Salinger's family in Germany, France and the United States. Spanning four generations, their stories encompass a variety of topics, including Russian immigration to Germany at the end of the 19th century, adolescence in Germany in the early 20th century, emigration from Nazi Germany and immigration to the United States, post-war childhood in France as well as the professional career of an immigrant woman in the United States during the 1950s-1970s. Additional insight into the cultural contexts of these stories is provided by annotated books of various genres, including children's books, language textbooks, a cookbook, and an autobiography by Lilly Pincus. In general, the genres and types of documents in this collection vary greatly. However, a relative bulk is composed of personal recollections and correspondence in the form of diaries and letters, some of which have been translated into English.

General biographical information on Albert and Selma Ginsburg is contained in Folder 1/1, including birth, marriage and death certificates, military documents, testaments, and some postwar correspondence pertaining to the care of their graves. A family tree is also included. Of special interest with regard to late 19th and early 20th century culture may be a German/Russian language textbook (H. von Berthe (Hrsg.) 1878. Deutsches Lesebuch: Hilfsbuch für den Unterricht in deutscher Sprache und Literatur.Eine Auswahl prosaischer und poetischer Stücke aus den Werken deutscher Klassiker aller Jahrhunderte. Elfte Auflage.) (Folder 2/1), as well as a photocopy of Selma Ginsburg's personal cookbook (Folder 1/2).

Only very little information is given in this collection on Albert Ginsburg's cousin, Russian-American journalist and writer Mark Vishniak. However, Folder 1/3 contains, in addition to an obituary from the New York Times, a number of finding aids of other institutions that hold related material for further research.

Folders 1/4 and 1/5 contain documents pertaining to Trude Salinger (*Ginsburg). Folder 1/5 comprises personal correspondence between Trude and various members of her family and friends, 1913-1928. Folder 1/4 contains mostly official documents pertaining to the family's immigration to the United States during the Holocaust: Bank statements, an alien registration card, a naturalization certificate as well as various restitution papers give evidence of the migration process. Some information on Trude's husband, Walter Salinger, is contained in Folder 1/6. It includes engagement announcements, a last will, a death certificate as well as some correspondence with the Jewish community in Bad Kissingen, which took care of his burial after Walter had died on a trip to Germany.

Several diaries by Trude's sister, Lotte Ginsburg, dating from 1910-1919 can be found in the LBI memoir collection (call number ME 1631). In these entries, Lotte describes her experience as an adolescent girl in the early 20th century, covering such topics as everyday life at home and school, travel notes as well as romantic encounters. Translations are included.

Marianne Salinger's personal and professional life is documented in Folders 1/8-1/10. In addition to some personal documents in Folder 1/8, including school certificates or letters written to her parents as well as some of her children's books, which reflect her childhood in Germany, an abundance of material included in Folder 1/9 pertains to Salinger's professional life as a designer in the United States after she had immigrated from Germany. Various advertisements, photographs, trademark papers and business correspondence illustrate both her creative work and the visual culture of post-war America. Of particular interest may be clippings from German newspapers and magazines narrating Marianne's success story in the United States from a German perspective. An issue of Stammbaum from 2006, also included here, features an interview with Salinger in which she reflects on her experience as an immigrant and volunteer at the Leo Baeck Institute Archives. Folder 1/10 contains photocopied letters by Marianne Salinger to her mother, in which she describes the postwar life in Paris, where she took care of the Ginsburg children Jacques and Nina whose parents had been deported to Ausschwitz. This folder also includes later photographs of Jacques and Nina and their families. A few photographs and certificates pertaining to Marianne Salinger's brother Fred (Fritz) can be found in Folder 1/7.

Excerpts from Lily Pincus's autobiography Verloren – gewonnen. Mein Weg von Berlin nach London (1980) in Folder 2/3 illustrate the author's childhood in Berlin, part of which she shared with Lotte Ginsburg. The photocopies included here pertain to these interconnections. The book is available at the LBI Library, call number DS 135 G5 P495.