Bruch-Kassel Collection

The Bruch-Kassel collection documents the immigration experiences of Fritz Kassel as well as the family history and genealogy. The collection includes extensive correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, clippings, notes and family trees.

One significant subject of this collection is the immigration of Fritz Kassel. Material on this will be found in both Series I and Series II. Series I, which is comprised of his correspondence, includes a bound volume that holds not only his transcribed copies of his own letters, but also diary entries of his that provide detailed information on his life in the Tatura internment camp in Victoria, Australia as well as some information on his passage from England to Australia via the HMT Dunera. The remaining correspondence of this series, which primarily consists of letters sent to him, often discuss his immigration, especially his aspiration to immigrate to the United States. Series II contains other material that relates to his immigration, including clippings, publications, a small amount of official correspondence and a legal document related to the Dunera. In addition to this document, there is a folder of clippings on the ship and an official memorandum from Dunera passengers to the Australian government, located in the folder of official correspondence. A few folders contain publications on the Kitchener Camp in Kent, England, where Fritz Kassel resided for a time prior to his embarkation on the Dunera.

Another prominent topic of the collection is the family history and properties. This topic will be found primarily in Series III. Among these papers are family trees, unpublished manuscripts on the family business and properties, official papers of various family members, and a brief description of the town of Frankenstein (now Ząbkowice Śląskie, Poland). Further information on family members may be found among the letters from other family members to Fritz Kassel, in Series I.