Ernst and Ruth Lissner Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents Ruth and Ernst Lissner, in particular Ruth's time in England after leaving Germany via Kindertransport. It includes correspondence and documents.
The correspondence is primarily Ruth Lissner's, and includes letters to Ruth in England from her family in Germany; these include clippings of the comic strip Abenteur mit Schnorps. The letters are mostly from her parents, but also include notes from aunts, uncles, and cousins. Also found here are letters between Ruth and Ernst Lissner during their courtship (in English and in German); letters from Ruth's brother Fred Stern, who was also living in England during the war; and additional letters and telegrams.
Documents related to Ernst and Ruth Lissner include some restitution and pension claims, a marriage license, immunization certificates, letters of reference, a birth certificate, a grade book, and various official documents (including some photocopies). There are also post-war inquires into the fate of various Stern family members who were deported and murdered in the Holocaust. A sticker with Ruth Lissner's Kindertransport number, perhaps from her suitcase or trunk, is also found here.
Materials related to Fred and Alice Hamburger include immunization and naturalization certificates, a wedding license, insurance claims, a ketubah for Benno and Johanna Hamburger, clippings, and various similar documents. Another ketubah, from 1938, for Shlomo son of Issachar and Malchen daughter of Jehudah ha-Levi, is also found here.
Dates
- 1902-1985
- Majority of material found within 1939-1944
Creator
- Lissner, Ruth, 1924-1998 (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to researchers.
Access Information
Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.
Biographical Note
Ruth Lissner née Stern (1924-1998) was the daughter of Siegfried Stern (1890-1941) and Helene Stern née May (1902-1941). Both, Ruth and her brother Fred Stern left Germany for England via Kindertransport. Their parents were deported to the Riga ghetto and murdered in 1941.
In 1944, Ruth was married in England to Ernst Lissner (born 1919, Breslau), son of Salomon Lissner (born 1883) and Marianne Grete née Ruben (1891-1959); after the war Ruth and Ernst Lissner moved to the United States (New Jersey).
Fred (Siegfried) Hamburger (born 1905, Aschaffenburg) was married to Alice Hamburger née May (born 1916, Frankfurt). Alice was the daughter of Benno and Johanna Hamburger. In 1975, after her first husband's death, Alice married William F. Lindner. The Hamburgers were aunt and uncle to Ruth Lissner.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection documents Ernst Lissner and Ruth Lissner née Stern (1924-1998), in particular Ruth's time in England after leaving Germany via Kindertransport. It includes correspondence and documents.
Arrangement
The materials were separated into correspondence and other documents.
Digitization Note
The collection was digitized in its entirety. Access to selected items in box 1 folder 5 is restricted due to privacy concerns. Researchers with questions regarding suppressed materials may contact the LBI Archivist at lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org.
Processing Information
Materials were rehoused in acid-free folders. Duplicate photocopies were discarded. A fragile newspaper clipping was photocopied, and the original discarded. The Photostat copy of the marriage certificate of William Lindner and Alice Hamburger is severely faded; two photocopies with different contrasts were made and included next to the original. The ketubah for Benno and Johanna Hamburger is fragile, and was rehoused in a Mylar sleeve.
- Correspondence
- England
- Great Britain -- Emigration and immigration
- Hamburger family
- Hamburger, Alice, 1916-
- Hamburger, Fred, 1905-
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Ketubahs
- Kindertransports (Rescue operations)
- Lissner family
- Lissner, Ernst, 1919-
- Lissner, Ruth, 1924-1998
- New Jersey
- Stern family
- Vital statistics records
- Wrocław (Poland)
- Title
- Guide to the Ernst and Ruth Lissner Collection 1902-1985 , bulk 1939-1944 AR 25521
- Author
- Processed by Kevin Schlottmann
- Date
- © 2013
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processing made possible by the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources through The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support "Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History." Digitization made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
Revision Statements
- March 2015: dao links and digitization information added by Leanora Lange.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
