Ferdinand and Emmy Lichter Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Ferdinand and Emmy Lichter Family Collection holds the preserved papers of the Lichter family. Particularly prominent in this collection is the correspondence of family members and friends. Other papers include personal as well as official documents like short biographical articles and identification cards.
Correspondence will be found in the first series. The family tried to stay in touch via letters and postcards in order to keep track of the location of individual family members, their health and mental conditions, and their daily life.
There are also official communications between the Lichters and various social aid organizations which tried to relieve refugees by supporting the families with some money, clothes, food, and so on.
Series II contains documents. Here one will find emigration papers for the U.S. and the affidavits which enabled the immigration of the Lichters to New York in 1946. Also, the series holds documents that give an idea of the family's life in the years 1940 to 1945. It contains French and Swiss documents i.e. permits or financial transactions. Furthermore, personal documents like job applications with biographical notes are also present here. The third and last series comprises materials which could not be further classified. These include correspondences from unidentifiable persons and empty envelopes.
Dates
- 1939-1951
- Majority of material found within 1940-1944
Creator
- Lichter, Ferdinand, 1910- (Person)
- Lichter, Emmy, 1911- (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German, French, English, and a small amount of Hungarian, Dutch, and Yiddish.
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: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org
Biographical Note
Ferdinand Lichter was born in 1910 in the province of Burgenland (then Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire). He was married to Emmy née Strauss, born in 1911 in Hamburg, Germany. The couple settled in the 2nd district in Vienna, where Ferdinand Lichter worked as an upholsterer and his wife as a teacher. After the Anschluss they escaped in 1939 via Antwerp to southern France, where Ferdinand Lichter was interned in various camps. They immigrated to New York in 1946.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Ferdinand and Emmy Lichter Family collection holds documents and personal as well as official correspondence of family members, friends, acquaintances, and public and private institutions. Prominent topics include refuge and refugee relief for the Lichters and the communication between family members describing their health, environment etc. in various refugee camps. The collection comprises vital documents, official certificates, emigration papers, correspondence, postcards, and some notes.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series:
Processing Information
The collection was restructured by rearranging folders and some materials in the folders. The current arrangement is largely based on the previous inventory, although a few smaller folders were combined by subject or format.
- Antwerp (Belgium)
- Asinof, Morris
- Bernisches Hilfswerk fuer Emigrantenkinder
- Certificates
- Comité International Genève
- Correspondence
- Emigration and immigration
- Families
- Hilfsverein fuer Juedische Auswanderung
- Jewish refugees
- Lichter, Emmy, 1911-
- Lichter, Ernst
- Lichter, Ferdinand, 1910-
- Official documents
- Orthodox Judaism
- Postcards
- Schweizer Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder
- Schweizerisches Landeskomitee der Agudas Jisroel
- Strauss, Behrend
- Switzerland
- Verband Schweizerischer Jüdischer Flüchtlingshilfen
- Verband der Schweizerischen, Israelitischen Armenpflege
- World War, 1939-1945
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of the Ferdinand and Emmy Lichter Family 1939-1951 AR 25455
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Meike Bingemann
- Date
- © 2012
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from F_and_E_LichterFamily.xml
Revision Statements
- December 04, 2013 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
