Leonie and Ernst Steiner Collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists primarily of vital records, official documents and educational certificates pertaining to Leonie and Ernst Steiner and his parents. There also are photographs of various family members and a few letters.
The first three folders contain the official documents of the family, arranged by person. In folder one Ernst Steiner's official documents are collected, starting with his birth certificate, followed by his high school certificate and apprenticeship as well as work certificates in chronological order. Afterwards the confirmation of his place of residence in Vienna and later France, his Declaration of Intention to immigrate to the United States, the Certificate of Naturalization, his Austrian ID card, documents about his military service and documents regarding the compensation for his persecution can be found.
Leonie and Eva Steiner's legal documents, which are located in folder two, include in chronological order Leonie's birth certificate, employer's references, certificates from training and documents about her residency in Austria and London as well as from her naturalization as an American citizen. Eva's documents include a certificate from elementary school and a note from a hospital in Vienna.
In folder three the legal documents of Olga and Jakob Steiner can be found and include engagement and birth certificates, their passports from Deutsches Reich and Certificates of Naturalization, among others.
The correspondence in folder four contains one short letter of Ernst to Leonie that he wrote during his military service. It is addressed to his wife Leonie in the Bronx. He expresses his excitement to come home after or in-between his army service in America. There are also some letters from the young Eva during her time in London to her father in America and three letters of 1941 from and to various people with an unknown relationship to the family. The content is family matters.
The photographs of the Ernst Steiner family are located in folder five, starting with portraits and other photographs of Ernst Steiner (undated, 1939, 1944), family portraits (1923, 1940, undated) and other photographs and picture postcards (undated, 1935). In folder six and the oversized folder number seven, card photography of the Jakob Steiner family and others can be found.
Dates
- 1903-1980
- Majority of material found within 1921-1947
Creator
- Yachnes, Eva (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: http://www.lbi.org/ask
Biographical Note
Olga Steiner (née Weil) was born on January 6, 1879 in Schuettenhofen, Bohemia, today Sušice, Czech Republic to the physician Ignaz Weil and Karoline Weil (née Hofmann). Olga married the butcher Jakob Wolf Steiner, who was born on September 23, 1875 in Sadowa Wisznia, Poland, today Sudowa Wyschnja, Ukraine to Marcus and Malka Steiner. Olga and Jakob Steiner immigrated to the U.S. in 1945 and 1946 respectively.
Ernst Steiner was born on June 1, 1907 in Vienna, Austria to Olga and Jakob Steiner. After high school he was trained and had jobs in different fields, for example as a storekeeper, butcher and accountant. Ernst Steiner married Leonie Steiner (née Obersohn) in 1931, one year later their child Eva was born in Vienna. In 1939 he immigrated to France and circa 1940 to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1943 in New York City and served in the U.S. Army.
His wife Leonie was born on November 18, 1910 to Wilhelm Obersohn and Bertha Obersohn (née Jellinek) in Vienna, Austria. Leonie worked as a secretary and later as a domestic servant. She immigrated to London in 1939, together with her seven-year-old daughter Eva. In December 1944 they immigrated to the United States as well and reunited with Ernst Steiner.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Leonie and Ernst Steiner collection contains photographs of three generations, official and legal documents and certificates of the time when the family members became American citizens. There is also some correspondence, for example from the young Eva Steiner in London to her father Ernst in the United States.
Arrangement
The material is arranged in one series, arranged by person and type and within the folders chronologically and by type.
Processing Information
The material has been reorganized chronologically and by type.
- Correspondence
- Education, Secondary
- Emigration and immigration
- Financial records
- Jewish families
- Jewish refugees
- London (England)
- New York (N.Y.)
- Official documents
- Photographs
- Steiner family
- Steiner, Ernst
- Steiner, Jakob
- Steiner, Leonie
- Steiner, Olga
- United States -- Emigration and immigration
- United States. Army
- Vienna (Austria)
- Yachnes, Eva
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of Leonie and Ernst Steiner 1903-1980 AR 25654
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Adrijana Blatnik
- Date
- © 2015
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from Leonie_and_Ernst_Steiner.xml
Revision Statements
- February 2016:: dao links added by Emily Andresini.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository