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Schickler-Rosenbaum Family Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25736

Scope and Contents

The Schickler-Rosenbaum family collection documents Harry Schickler’s experiences in World War I and holds information about the Schickler-Rosenbaum families.

Series I consists of Harry Schickler’s notebooks from World War I, describing the experiences Harry and his unit made both on Germany’s eastern and western front. The notebooks contain detailed information about combat actions in the war and Harry’s injuries; as well as a short depiction about Passover festivities within the German army. The Series also consists of photographs of Harry’s unit and the places it was stationed; and field postcards directed to Harry and his father, Adolf.

Various documents and photographs of the Schickler-Rosenbaum family can be found in Series II, as well as other various or unidentified photos. Among the documents are the Jewish marriage certificate of Betty and Heinrich Rosenbaum, from 1918 and an apprenticeship contract from Adolf Schickler’s company in Lüneburg. The Series also contains a photograph of the Schickler-Rosenbaum family with a description of the persons on the back.

Dates

  • Creation: 1914-1997
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1915-1919

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in German, with a small amount of Hebrew and English.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Visit the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History.

Biographical Note

Harry Schickler was born on March 17th, 1894. He was the son of Adolf (born 1869) and Hulda Schickler (née Levie; born 1869); and brother to Kurt Schickler (born February 13th, 1898; died December 18th, 1969), Siegfried Schickler and Kate Schickler (born 1932/33).

Harry’s parents moved from Nienburg to Lüneburg in 1906, where Adolf Schickler owned a shop for shoes and men’s clothing, in which his son worked too. Harry and his father both were members of the gymnastics club Männer-Turnverein 1848 (MTV 1848), where they practiced gymnastics, played football and tennis. Harry was considered a talented athlete.

In 1915 Harry joined the German army to serve in World War I. He was recruited in Hanover in the 2nd reserve battalion of the 73rd infantry regiment, and he was trained before being transported to the eastern front in Russia. His unit was moved around the front several times. During that period Harry became sick with dysentery and after his recovery he was injured for the first time in December 1916 by mine splinters. In spring 1917 his unit was relocated to the western front in France. There Harry was involved in many combat actions on the battlefield. He was wounded two more times, first by a grenade and a second time by a shot in his arm, resulting in heavy bleeding and his transfer to a hospital in Germany, where he stayed until the end of the war. For his bravery Harry received the Iron Cross 2nd class during the war and was promoted first to the rank of private and then to a non-commissioned officer.

After his recovery Harry went back to Lüneburg, where he took over his father’s business in 1928. He married Else Katzenstein and they had two daughters, Edith (later Rosenbaum) and Marga.

When the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, Harry believed that his service in the German army would protect him and his was family from persecution. Even when the situation for the Jews deteriorated more and more, the Schicklers tried to keep their business running. But when the house with their home and store was set on fire on ‘Kristallnacht’ on November 9th, 1938, and Harry was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for a while, the family had no choice but to flee Germany. Because they lacked money, at first only Harry could emigrate to New York. In August of the same year, his wife and the two daughters followed him to the United States. His parents, Adolf and Hulda Schickler, also tried to flee Germany, but were unable to do so. They were deported to Theresienstadt in 1943; Adolf Schickler died during the transport, and Hulda Schickler died in the camp from malnutrition in 1944.

In New York Harry Schickler owned a deli in Washington Heights, where he and his wife lived in the same apartment building as their daughters, Marga and Edith, as well as Edith’s husband Werner Rosenbaum and Werner’s mother Betty. Edith and Werner Rosenbaum were parents of two daughters. Harry Schickler died on November 11th, 1976 in New York.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Schickler-Rosenbaum Family Collection documents primarily the life of Harry Schickler during his service in World War I for the German Army, by holding his written memoires and photographs. The collection also contains photographs of the Schickler and Rosenbaum families; various or unidentified photographs; and other documents.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series.

  1. Harry Schickler in World War I, 1914-1919
  2. Schickler-Rosenbaum family, 1917-1949, 1956, 1961, 1997

Related Materials

Related is the following book held in the LBI library:

Rosenbaum-Greenberg, Susan (2007): Lüneburg remembered: a time before, during and after Jews were Germans among Nazis. Westport Books: Westport, CT. Call Number: st 8395. The book contains an English transcription of Harry Schickler’s notebooks from the war.

For more information about the MTV 1848 Lüneburg and Harry and Adolf Schickler’s activities in the club see also: http://relaunch.mtv-treubund.de/organisation/der-verein/leitbild/vereinsarchiv/#1446067126154-87331533-331c and the archive of the MTV Treubund von 1848 e. V., which is located in the archive of the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg.

Separated Materials

Objects were removed to the LBI Arts and Objects Collection. The objects included a war medal from World War 1 for Max Lamm, together with its ribbon and the envelope in which the objects were sent to him; another ribbon; a cufflink produced by the ‘Münzamt’ in Vienna; and a ‘Judenstern’ (yellow fabric Jewish star).

Processing Information

The collection organized in two series. The folders are arranged alphabetically. Documents sent together by the donor were kept together during the processing of the archival collection. Photographs, two notebooks and other official documents were placed in acid-free envelopes. The photographs were organized either by the place or the persons shown on them.

Title
Guide to the Papers of the Schickler-Rosenbaum Family
Author
Processed by Willem Weber
Date
2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States