Alicia Latzer Family Collection

This collection contains correspondence, vital records, and other materials pertaining to restitution claims against Austria by Alicia Latzer on behalf of herself, her sister, Renata Latzer de Davids, aka Renée Latzer, and their parents Aladár and Elsa Latzer. It also contains a small amount of personal material and genealogical materials about the descendents of Moses Latzer (1810-1905) and Albert Löwy (1836-1902).

More specifically, these materials include photocopies of legal documents, such as birth, death, property, and registration records and Nazi-era wealth summaries. Documents include financial and legal documents concerning the "Aryanization" of A. Löwy and Sons, manufacturer and leather merchant in Gross Petersdorf, Austria; correspondence to Alicia Latzer from Austrian organizations, regarding restitution, including the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism (Allgemeiner Entschädigungsfonds für Opfer des Nationalsozialismus), the Holocaust Victims Information and Support Center, the archives of the states of Vienna and of Styria (Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv and Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv -- the enclosed photocopies of archival documents are in separate folders), and the insurance company Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A; documents from Alicia Latzer's sister, Renée Latzer de Davids, including an Austrian passport, certified copies of Austrian birth and residence certificates, a Spanish translation of her birth certificate, an obituary and a photocopy her death certificate, and correspondence with the Bundesverband der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden Oesterreichs (Union of Jewish Communities of Austria), the Pensionsversicherungsamt (Social security office) of Vienna, the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism, and the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims; documents relating to Arnold and Henriette Engel, including Austrian residence certificates and post-war declarations of legal death; and photocopies of documents relating to Leopold and Ilona (Helene) Latzer, including a Verzeichnis über das Vermögen von Juden, a list of Jews from Güssing, and residence registrations. The collection also contains materials regarding Aladár and Elsa Latzer, Alicia Latzer's parents, including documents concerning the successful return of artwork originally owned by Aladár Latzer, from the Landesmuseum Joanneum (Universalmuseum Joanneum) to Alicia Latzer, including two research reports about potentially stolen Jewish art at Landesmuseum Joanneum; documents concerning property owned by Aladár Latzer, including photocopies of official land registers dating back to 1868, photocopies of Güssing phonebook entries, a Verzeichnis über das Vermögen von Juden, a 1947 lease between Latzer and Hedwig Zach, and photocopied pages about Jewish property from a 1994 book, "Fuerstenfeld und Umgebung, 1930-1950" by Franz Timischl. Vital documents of Aladár and Elsa Latzer include certified copies, photocopies, and Spanish translations of birth, marriage, and Austrian residence certificates for Aladár and Elsa Latzer, and Argentine identification card, a photocopy of a 1916 imperial commendation for military service, and an original identification paper from 1919 for Aladár Latzer. Most of these documents dated prior to the 2000s are photocopies.

The collection also contains some personal material relating to the family of Alicia Latzer. It includes two letters from Elsa and Aladár Latzer, to Hedwig Zach of Güssing, and to "Miki"; two genealogical tables for Alicia Latzer's great-grandfathers, Moses Latzer (1810-1905) of Güssing and Albert Löwy (1836-1902) of Grosspetersdorf, as well as a list of Latzer family addresses worldwide from 1991, and a small badge for the "Hungary, First General Insurance Company, Budapest" (in Czech). Also included are notes and letters from students and their teacher pertaining to her participation in "Letters to the Stars", when Austrian students corresponded with Holocaust survivors. The Photographs folder contains a Latzer family portrait (Margit Hanser née Latzer, Henriette (Etta) née Latzer and Arnold Engel, Ilona née Loeffler and Leopold Latzer, and Aladár Latzer), an unidentified portrait of a small girl (possibly Alicia or Renata Latzer), a photo postcard of the castle in Güssing, a copy of a photo of emigrants from Suedbuergenland in Buenos Aires in the 1940s, and clipped passport photographs of Aladár Latzer and Renata Latzer de Davids.