Lotte Rosenthal Collection

The collection consists mainly of the personal papers of Lotte Boritzer, née Rosenthal. These include her diary from 1938-39, correspondence with family and friends, and her autobiography. In addition, there are copies of official documents, two newspaper clippings, and materials added by her daughter Yael.

Folder 1 includes materials that aid the reconstruction of Lotte’s and her family’s history. The autobiography that Lotte wrote in 2001 is accompanied by a memo that lists the different periods of her life in which she lived in Germany, Israel, and the US. The autobiography covers her family history as well as her life from childhood through her life in Palestine (Israel). In articles from the Arizona Jewish Post Lotte and Yael tell their stories and Lotte describes the laying of “stumbling stones” (Stolpersteine) in memory of her parents in Bingen, Germany. A copy of Lotte’s birth certificate, a copy of a Red Cross form, an excerpt from the German Federal Archive, as well other photocopied forms from Lotte’s inquiries about the conditions of her parents’ death are also included. Photocopies of family members’ photos and an original photo of the madrich (counselor) and his wife are also in this folder. Yael included two letters to the reader from May 19 and 20, 2013 in which she outlines her mother’s and her grandparents’ history in Germany from the late nineteenth century until the Holocaust and references the history of Lotte’s maternal and paternal ancestors and gives a background to her arrangement of the letters and her translations. The information that Yael provides occasionally conflicts with Lotte’s autobiography.

Folder 2 holds Lotte’s diary kept from December 1, 1938 until May 19, 1939 in Tel Hai. Yael attached a note to the diary.

The bulk of the correspondence in folders 3-4 is made up of letters from Lotte’s friends and family in Germany, Palestine, and there is a letter from New York. A few letters from her sister Gretel from England and from the US consulate in Jerusalem are also included as well as one letter from the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Central Bureau for German Jews. Among the friends who corresponded with Lotte are the madrich - her counselor during the six months of preparation (hachshara) for the life in the kibbutz in Palestine -, as well as the shaliach or representative of the Jewish Agency, with whom Lotte had a romantic relationship. He signed his letters “Pepi” and may have been Fritz Wolf. There are also letters exchanged between Lotte’s sister and their parents. The correspondence covers the period 1938-1941, stopping when Lotte’s sister Gretel, who by then worked in England, exchanged a few notes through the Red Cross with their parents. Yael translated many of the letters her mother received over the years, and her translations or summaries can be found alongside most of the letters in the collection.