Margaret Gabali Rosenfelt Collection

This collection consists of Margaret Gabali Rosenfelt’s papers, including correspondence, official records, memoirs, a diary, a booklet, and a scrapbook. There is also a photo of her friend Charlotte. The donor of the collection, Andrew Lear, to whom she left her papers, described her life and career in a letter and attached a printout of her obituary, which are included in the last, fifth folder along with a letter to LBI. Her career as a potter is not reflected in the collection.

The first four folders include the following materials:

Folder 1 holds Margaret Rosenfelt’s papers from Germany, produced since her birth in 1912 until her departure from Germany in 1951. Her records include school records, proofs of immunization, Lutheran confirmation, and certificates of employment. Her identity card from 1940, temporary registration by the Military Government of Germany, and passport are also enclosed. Also included is her correspondence pertaining to the rental of a studio. Materials in this folder likely related to Margaret Rosenfelt’s restitution claims include correspondence, undated, handwritten lists of expenses and tools, a letter from her father from 1942 describing property and the family’s situation, and vital records for her brother Hans, her mother, and her mother’s family. Also included in the folder is an undated horoscope filled out for “Grete G” (Grete is the diminutive for Margarete).

Folder 2 houses Margaret Rosenfelt’s correspondence from the period of her internment in France in 1945 and 1946. These are letters to and from her father, Jewish religious officials, a certain Herr Scharff, and the French authorities, in which she describes her hardships during the war. There are some documents on smaller pieces of paper from her father in addition to the letters. Margaret Rosenfelt kept a diary during this period. In the diary, she kept her friend Charlotte’s photograph; probably the same Charlotte who prepared the handmade picture book – a Christmas present – also enclosed in this folder.

In folder 3 are four undated notebooks containing Margaret Rosenfelt’s memoirs and a scrapbook, which she probably used from the late 1930s until around the time of her arrival to the United States.

In folder 4, there is correspondence from Rudolf Schneider, an architect in Stuttgart, dating between 1946 and 1989. The correspondence consists of postcards and letters with photos glued to the paper, custom-made postcards mostly for Christmas and New Year’s, and two invitations or brochures of his exhibitions in Germany. There is also a letter from Hermann Meier to Rudolf Schneider from 1946 and undated postcards depicting the lake Bodensee with notes made with pencil by an unknown author.