Kornstein-Rosenthal Family Collection

The Kornstein-Rosenthal Collection comprises papers of several members of the Kornstein and related families. Most prominent among these are Adolf (Adolph) Kornstein and his wife, Suse (Susan), on whom the bulk of the collection focuses. Other family members who feature heavily in this collection are their parents, Jakob and Alwine Kornstein and Julian and Margarete Rosenthal, as well as Suse Kornstein's uncle Robert Naumann. This collection primarily pertains to the family member's daily lives, especially during the 1920s through the 1940s in Germany, although attention is also given to Adolf and Suse's professional development from medical students in Germany to practicing physicians in Brooklyn. Most of the collection constitutes extensive family correspondence. Other papers include educational and professional documentation of Adolf and Suse Kornstein, some official papers of family members, essays and research material of Robert Naumann, and some photographs and genealogical material. In addition, a detailed manuscript on the lives of Adolf and Suse by their daughter is also present, which is based on various documents in this collection.

The personal correspondence of this collection will be found in Series I. Correspondence in this series includes both letters between Adolf and Suse Kornstein and from family members to them. Subseries 1 of Series I, which holds the letters exchanged between Adolf and Suse, mainly comprises letters they exchanged prior to their marriage. Many of these letters date from their time studying medicine at separate universities. While these letters largely detail their personal relationship to each other, they also provide a glimpse of the life of Jewish students in Germany in the early 1930s; some letters express their concerns about the changes within the country although most relate news of their activities. Subseries 2 of Series I contains the personal correspondence of other family members to Adolf and Suse. Letters in this subseries prior to 1934 are to and from Kornstein family members and Adolf. Noteworthy are those that pertain to Adolf and Jakob Kornstein's visit to New York City in 1924-1925 as well as Adolf's extended stay there. Such letters often provide his impressions of New York City and American culture, as well as chronicling his experiences as a student in an American high school. Letters after 1934 are from members of the Rosenthal family, primarily Julian and Margarete Rosenthal, to their daughter Suse and Adolf in Brooklyn. This correspondence relates their news from Germany, with some mention of the changing political scene and the developing stresses upon the Jewish community in Breslau and its effects upon them, notably in the later years of the correspondence.

Related to the correspondence of Series I are the documents of Series II, which predominantly consist of copies and translations of Adolf and Suse Kornstein's educational documentation from Germany, used in their acquisition of American medical licenses. Other papers in Series II include some other official papers and texts from Kornstein family celebrations. Additionally related to the family correspondence is the manuscript Gretel's Moon by Roslyn Tanzman, located in Series IV. This exhaustive composition uses much of the material in the collection, but especially the family correspondence, to document the lives of Suse and Adolf Kornstein. Gretel's Moon includes many excerpts of the correspondence of Series I, translated into English, although some are presented in edited form. The narrative of the manuscript is woven around the correspondence in order to place the letters in their historical and biographical context; later portions of Adolf and Suse's lives are described by the author in memoir fashion based upon her own memories. The text includes the addition of photographs and a family tree within it; similar documents are also located in Series IV.

Aside from the extensive material on Adolf and Suse Kornstein, this collection also encompasses some material on Robert Naumann, the brother of Margarete Rosenthal, who owned a stationery shop in the town of Liegnitz until he was forced to sell it in 1938, when he immigrated to the United States by way of Cuba. Material on Robert Naumann will be found in Series III. Many of these papers consist of his writing, primarily essays on German history, such as the historical development of German culture and alternate resolutions to World War II. Some of his other compositions pertain to family members, such as his essay "Unser Goethe," which describes the significance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to members of his family.