Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains information regarding Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman's legal and financial matters. Folder 1 contains legal correspondence and Folder 2 contains financial correspondence.
Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman's legal correspondence concerns her attempt to receive compensation, which she was desperately in need of, for the physical, mental, and property related damages she endured because of the persecution of Jews in the late 1930s. The correspondence with her lawyers, Dr. Erich Petry, Prof. Dr. Friedrich Lehmann, and Dr. B. Moshim, describe the cases. The correspondence also contains legal documents regarding her cases. Prof. Dr. Friedrich Lehmann passed the case regarding compensation for her mother's suicide after imprisonment in a concentration camp to Dr. Erich Petry after a decline in his health. Her second case was fought with another lawyer, Dr. B. Moshim, in an effort to receive compensation for the mental, physical, and property related damages she endured as a result of the Holocaust as well as for the labor her parents performed in a concentration camp. She won both of these cases. Also located in Folder 1 is the correspondence between Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman's aunt, Dr. Tilly Newman, and Prof. Dr. Friedrich Lehmann. The purpose of this correspondence was for Prof. Dr. Friedrich Lehmann to gain information from Dr. Tilly Newman regarding her niece's case.
Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman's financial correspondence regards mainly the transfer of money from her three Germany bank accounts to England. These letters are located in Folder 2, which also contains numerous bank notes.
Dates
- Creation: 1956-1963
Creator
- Soliman, Vera Margot Kowalski, 1922- (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English and German.
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
Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman was born on the twelfth of December 1922 in Frankfurt am Main to Anna Rosalie Kowalski and Dr. Moscheck Max Kowalski. In 1937 Anna Rosalie Kowalski and Dr. Kowalski were arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the Frankfurt prison. They were then moved to a concentration camp before being transferred to another. Anna Rosalie Kowalski was released in 1938 and committed suicide two days later. Dr. Tilly Newman then sent Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman to Great Britain to live with her uncle because she was in danger of being arrested by the Gestapo. Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman was deeply affected by this escape and her mother's suicide.
In 1957 Vera Margot Kowalski sought compensation from the government for her losses. She fought with the help of the attorney Dr. B. Moshim for compensation for the damage of her own health, her parents' property, and for the labor her parents performed while in a concentration camp. This case lasted until 1962 when she won her case. During this case, she was also fighting another one with the help of Prof. Dr. Friedrich Lehmann and later Dr. Erich Petry to receive compensation for the suicide of her mother. This case was also won in favor of Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman in 1962, five years after it began.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman Family Collection contains correspondence on Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman's legal and financial matters.
Arrangement
The collection comprises one series.
Processing Information
The documents in this collection were already mostly in complete chronological order and were divided into the subseries listed above. The documents were not, however, separated based on legal and financial matters.
Subject
- Kowalski, Anna Rosalie, 1887-1938 (Person)
- Kowalski Soliman, Vera Margot, 1922- (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of the Vera Margot Kowalski Soliman Family 1956-1963 AR 25427
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Isabelle Ostertag
- 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 VeraMargotKowalskiSoliman.xml
Revision Statements
- June 17, 2013 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository