Mühlfelder and Roeckert Families Collection

Charles C. Milford was born Klaus Mühlfelder in Berlin on July 13, 1927, to Simon Mühlfelder and Hedwig Mühlfelder née Roeckert. Simon came from a Jewish professional family in Thuringia, while Hedwig was a Berliner from a Christian family.

Simon Mühlfelder was born on April 9, 1884, in Walldorf (Meiningen), Germany, to Jakob Mühlfelder (1853-1922) and Karoline Mühlfelder née Weiskopf (1856-1905). Simon formally left the Jewish religion after the death of his father. He became a physician and served as a staff surgeon during World War I. On October 22, 1912, Simon married Martha Kassel (1880-1952), who was also a physician, in Berlin. They later divorced. On July 29, 1926, Simon married Hedwig Roeckert in Berlin.

Hedwig Marie Martha Roeckert was born in Berlin on June 2, 1898. Her parents were Ernst Arthur August Roeckert (1868-1936) and Agnes Hedwig Selma Roeckert née Genschmer (1872-1969). When Simon was forced to give up his medical practice in 1938 under Nazi racial laws, the family moved in with Agnes Roeckert, where they remained until the end of the war. In early 1943, Simon was among those rounded up as part of the Fabrikaktion and transported to Rosenstrasse 2-4. Hedwig joined the other non-Jewish wives of these men in protesting their detention; the men, including Simon, were ultimately released. Hedwig Mühlfelder died on March 10, 1954, in Berlin. Simon Mühlfelder died in Berlin on July 24, 1965.

Simon and Hedwig intended to leave choice of religion to Charles; however, they baptized him on April 15, 1933, after the Nazis came to power. He was confirmed on March 29, 1941. Charles grew up in Berlin-Reinickendorf, where he attended primary school. He was thereafter educated at the Werner-Siemens-Oberrealschule, Gontard-Oberschule, and Lessing-Oberschule. Because he was classified by the Nazi regime as a Mischling of the first degree, Charles was expelled from the Lessing-Oberschule in March 1943.

Milford was apprenticed as a telecommunications fitter from April 1943 until he was conscripted into forced labor under Organisation Todt in June 1944. Brought to France, he was forced to repair damage from Allied aerial attacks on the railroad yards at Beauvais and Soissons, which were bombed nightly. As the Allied forces advanced into France, he managed to flee to Berlin in September 1944. He resumed his apprenticeship for three months. In January 1945, he was again conscripted by Organisation Todt and assigned to work as a concrete laborer in Berlin.

After the war’s end, Charles completed his secondary education at the Herwegh-Oberschule in Berlin-Hermsdorf, passing his matriculation examination on July 20, 1946. He studied German and English at the University of Berlin from 1946 until 1948 and at the Free University of Berlin from 1948 until 1950.

Milford emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1950, arriving in New York on July 26 of that year. On April 6, 1951, he signed his “Declaration of Intention” and officially changed his name from Klaus Mühlfelder to Charles C. (Claus) Milford. He entered Columbia University’s School of Library Service in September 1950 and completed his master’s degree in August 1951. Charles was drafted into Army for service in the Korean War in September 1951. After basic training at Fort Lee in Virginia, he was deployed to Korea, where he was assigned to manage the only Special Services Library in South Korea, located in Pusan, from August 1952 until July 1953. He was released from active duty September 1953. Charles was naturalized as an American citizen on February 1, 1954.

Charles C. Milford’s career as a librarian spanned almost 40 years. He was employed as a librarian at the Tacoma Public Library (1953-1959), Oregon State Library (1961-1964), and Stanford University’s Food Research Institute (1964-1991). From 1959 until 1961 he earned his master’s degree in political science from the University of Washington.

It was during his time at the Tacoma Public Library that Milford met his wife Patricia Elizabeth Shannon. Patricia was born on November 16, 1921, in Tacoma to James F. Shannon (1891-1967) and Marie E. Shannon née Schneider (1894-1965). After graduating from the University of Washington in 1943, she attended the Naval School of Oriental Languages and served as a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy in naval intelligence from 1943 to 1946. From 1946 until 1950 she served as a Japanese translator in the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service in Tokyo. After earning her master’s degree from the University of Washington’s School of Librarianship in 1952, she was employed as a reference librarian and branch administrator for Tacoma Public Library. Charles and Patricia married on June 11, 1963, in Berlin, where Charles’s father Simon Mühlfelder and maternal grandmother Agnes Roeckert were still living. Patricia E. Milford died of cancer on October 10, 1989, at Stanford University Hospital.