Max and Irene Würzburger Collection

Max Würzburger and Irene Rosenfelder were both born in the 1910s in small towns along the Neckar River. Max was raised in Hirschhorn and Ladenburg; Irene grew up in Ladenburg, the daughter of the synagogue's cantor and teacher. Both left Germany for the United States in the 1930s. This collection contains documents pertaining to their education and departure, and sparing records of their lives following their marriage in 1942. Substantial educational records of their son, who was born in 1948 and died in 1976, are included.

The collection also documents the town of Ladenburg’s efforts toward reconciliation with, and documentation of, its destroyed Jewish community. In 1990 the Arbeitskreis jüdische Geschichte ("Working Group for Jewish History") of Ladenburg invited the Würzburgers and other Jewish survivors from the area to return. The Würzburgers’ visit, the Working Group's publication of its documentation, and ongoing friendships that developed between the Würzburgers and Working Group members are documented in correspondence from these members and in photocopied newspaper accounts.

Folder 1 consists of educational and official documents pertaining to Max Würzburger, including reference letters written by employers on his behalf. Almost all date from 1925 to 1953.

Folder 2 consists of educational and official documents pertaining to Irene Würzburger, née Rosenfelder. Almost all date from 1930 until 1968. These include official documents in preparation for her departure from Germany in 1939 and regarding her brief stay in London before her immigration to the United States. The folder also includes reference letters written by employers on her behalf and handwritten resumes, apparently written by her.

Folder 3 consists of affidavits written in 1940 by Rabbi Max and Brunhilde Kapustin, Irene Rosenfelder's brother-in-law and sister, among others, in support of her application for a visa to the United States.

Folder 4 consists of records dating from 1955 to 1974 that pertain to the secular and religious education of Allen Joel Würzburger, as well as notes outlining his education that were apparently written by his mother.

Folder 5 contains correspondence, documents and photocopies of newspaper clippings concerning the Arbeitskreis jüdische Geschichte ("Jewish History Working Group") of Ladenburg. These relate to the Würzburgers’ return visit to Ladenburg in 1990 and to the publication of the Working Group's book, Die judischen Ladenburger: Ein Beitrag zur Stadtgeschichte (first edition 1991). Also included in this file is correspondence from individual members of the Working Group to the Würzburgers. The bulk of this correspondence was written by Jürgen Zieher, who visited the Würzburgers in 1994. He had received a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) scholarship to study at Johns Hopkins University that year; Zieher discusses his studies and his summer internship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Folder 6 contains a reference letter on behalf of Josef (Joseph) Wimpfheimer (uncle of Max Würzburger) dated 1939. It also includes several printouts and photocopies: an article on William Martin Joel (1994), undated study sheets for Jewish penitents, and information concerning Ladenburg’s and Neckar Valley’s Jewish history (undated and 1999).