Emigration and immigration

The Rudolph E. Friedman Collection contains the papers and extensive correspondence of this businessman. The collection centers on his early life in Germany, emigration and early years in the United States, and his military service during World War II. Some information on his family is also available. The collection consists largely of correspondence and documentation of his military service, but also includes a small amount of official documents and personal papers.

The Rudolph Seiden Collection describes the life and work of Rudolph Seiden, who was a chemist and a Zionist activist. Included in this collection is personal and editorial correspondence regarding Judaism, Zionism, anti-Semitism and the proposed Jewish resettlement in Alaska in the 1930s. Unpublished manuscripts collected by Rudolph Seiden for the Foreign Authors’ Syndicate can be found in this collection as well as autographs from Max Brod, Lujo Brentano, Franz Oppenheimer, Erich Muehsam, Arthur Schnitzler and Otto Warburg.

The collection contains Rudolph Shaffert’s personal and official correspondence, restitution claims, newspaper clippings, photographs, and official documents from Austria and the United States as well as immigration records from the United States. It includes official and personal documents and photographs from other family members.

This collection includes correspondence, official documents, family trees, and photographs relating primarily to Ruth Marion Mosse and the Mosse family. Also included are documents pertaining to Ruth Marion Mosse’s erstwhile husband Ernest Goodman.

This collection describes the professional life of the writer Salamon Dembitzer, who is best known as a Yiddish poet and the author of Visas for America, a novel on the situation of Jewish refugees during World War II. Included in these papers are manuscripts of his poetry, newspaper articles, and novels as well as reviews of his work, correspondence, and biographical information on him.

The Salier Family Collection holds papers of members of the Salier family as well as related families, such as the Alexander, Lipmann, and Lehmann families. The collection consists primarily of official, educational, and professional documents of family members, along with a small amount of family correspondence, a few photographs, family writing, newspaper clippings and articles, a cookbook, and a friendship album.

Dr. Salomon P. Ratner , the youngest of ten children, was born to M'Shulum Frivel and Bashe Leah in Pinsk, Russia. His parents served on the estate of another Jew, Zalman Pulman. Salomon attended Yeshiva in Slutzk, later leaving the Yeshiva to obtain a secular education. He immigrated to New York with his parents in 1902 where they were aided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and reunited with several of his syblings. While working as a clerk in a pharmacy, Salomon attended the New York College of Dentistry. He married Leah Altshule in September 1910 and opened a practice on Broome and Eldridge Street.

The Salomons-Fox family collection documents the lives of various family members of the extended Salomons-Fox family. Topics of the collection are the education; the emigration or attempted emigration to the United States, the establishment of a new life in America; and the professional career of the individuals represented in the collection. An extensive amount of the collection focusses on the artistic career and life of Dave Fox. Also included are papers pertaining to the circus artist and actor, Jackie (Leo) Gerlich, who appeared in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz."

The Samton Family Collection documents the lives of members of the Samton (Szamatolski) and Fiegel families. It includes material on the education and professional work of Henry Samton, the Adolph Fiegel paper factory, the last days and estate of Emil Fiegel, the genealogy of the Fiegel and Scharff branches of the family, and other topics. The collection includes personal, legal, and professional correspondence; official documents; a small amount of photographs; personal papers; a cookbook; a few newspaper clippings; family trees and genealogical research; and some financial documentation.

The collection contains manuscript and published material pertaining to Kohs' career as a psychologist and social worker. Also included are lecture notes, bibliographies for academic courses, as well as personal memorabilia.

Papers of Sanford A. Gradinger cover the period from mid-1980’s to mid-1990’s and document the activities of the Rochester, NY businessman on behalf of Soviet Jews, his involvement with the Andrei Sakharov International Committee and his travels to Washington D. C., Soviet Union and Former Soviet Union. Materials include photographs, videocassette, CDrs, correspondence, clippings, ephemera and travel memorabilia..

The Sartorius Family Collection holds documentation on the history of the Sartorius family, along with its related families. Most of the collection consists of family trees and correspondence concerning family genealogy, although memoirs and biographical articles are also present, as are a number of family photographs. The collection especially provides information on the family's origins in Germany and lives in the American South, including family members' service in the Confederate forces during the Civil War, in addition to some information on parts of the family who resided in France.

This collection documents the family of Anthony Schatzky, whose parents, Eva née Gorzelanczyk Schatzky (1914-1970) and Karl Schatzky (1914-1991), lived in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) until 1939 and then escaped to London. The period during which Karl and Eva lived in England (1939-1953) is the collection’s primary focus; during those 14 years, Karl and Eva lived in London, Cambridge, Shropshire, and Norwich. The largest categories of materials are handwritten and typewritten correspondence between Karl and Eva Schatzky, although there are several other letters and postcards from immediate and extended relatives, and from friends. The collection also includes memorabilia documenting Karl Schatzky’s family history as far back as 1850, along with family photographs relating mostly to Karl’s family; a few photographs feature Eva’s immediate family.

This collection holds papers, correspondence and visual material of Benno and Aenne Schwabacher (née Dannenberg) and their ancestors. Prominent topics are Aenne and Benno Schwabacher's vacations, their emigration from Germany and their immigration to the USA. The papers in this collection include a vast amount of visual material (predominantly photos), official documents, most of which related to the Schwabacher’s emigration and immigration as well as quite lot of correspondence.

The Seattle Action for Soviet Jewry records documenting the activities of a human rights non-governmental organization on behalf of Soviet Jewry. The records date from 1972-1997 with the bulk in the late 1970s through 1980s. The collection includes administrative files, documents pertaining to various local and national institutions, programs and activities related to the Soviet Jewry movement, reports of trips to visit Jews in the U.S.S.R., information on U.S.-U.S.S.R. trade relations, Soviet laws and Soviet Antisemitism, information on Seattle’s sister city Tashkent. Besides the series with the general materials the collection features a series with files concerning Soviet Jewish Prisoners of Conscience, and Refuseniks and an audio-visual series with photographs of Soviet Jews and local and national coverage of the events related to Soviet Jewry.

The children and descendants of Isaac Mendes and Rachel Levy Seixas included individuals who had a great impact on communal affairs and colonial Jewish life in New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Richmond. Though this collection does not preserve the total volume of papers produced by every family member, the documents contained herein demonstrate the importance of the family in both Jewish and secular life in late 17th and early 18th century North America.

The collection is valuable to researchers studying the Seixas family; civic, mercantile, and religious contributions of Jews in the colonial era; Jewish communities in New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Richmond; the importance of religion to Colonial Jews; Jewish participation in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and World War I; Jewish converts to Christianity; Jews as masons; and Congregation Shearith Israel of New York.

Prominent individuals in this collection include: Ephraim Hart, Grace Seixas Judah, Mrs. Jesse Judah, Israel Baer Kursheedt, Sarah Seixas Kursheedt, Hayman Levy, Nicholas Low, Isaac Moses, Naphtali Taylor Phillips, Benjamin Mendes Seixas, David G. Seixas, Gershom Mendes Seixas, Isaac Benjamin Seixas, Isaac M. Seixas, Jacob B. Seixas, Joshua Seixas, and Moses Mendes Seixas.

The collection includes: account records, books, circumcision instructions and register, correspondence, drawings, estate papers, a eulogy, family trees, legal documents, petitions, photographs, prayer books, a sermon, and shipping records.

This collection is arranged into four series: Series I: Family Papers; Series II: Moses Seixas (1744-1809); Series III: Gershom Mendes Seixas (1746-1816) and descendants; and Series IV: Benjamin Mendes Seixas (1748-1817) and descendants.

The Seligsohn Kroner Family Collection consists of material that reflects the life and work of the philosopher Richard J. Kroner (1884-1974), his wife Alice Kroner née Kauffmann (1885-1968), their daughter Gerda M. Seligsohn née Kroner (1909-2002), and their son-in-law Rabbi Rudolf Seligsohn (1909-1943). The collection primarily consists of correspondence relating to the emigration experiences of each of the family members. In addition, the collection contains personal documents, newspaper clippings, off-prints of the philosophical writings of Richard Kroner, photographs, a photo album, and a few paintings.

Folder contains postcards from Russia addressed to sisters Rose Selkind/Salkin Ogineky and Sarah Selkind/Salkin.

The Semi Uffenheimer family collection contains the papers of Semi Uffenheimer and his famliy, and documents the effects of Nazi persecution on their lives, his emigration to Argentina and the fate of his mother Anna, his father Adolf and his sister Flora, who were deported to the concentration camp of Gurs, France. The collection also holds information about other members of Semi’s family. Much of the collection is correspondence between Semi and his sister, focusing on the family’s life in Germany and later in the concentration camp of Gurs. Furthermore the collection contains genealogical research documents such as family trees; documents relating to Semi’s marriage search; and some photographs and postcards.

Series II provides detailed genealogical information collected by Louis S. Wolf about the Eckhaus and Wolf families and their ancestors in the form of printed and handwritten family trees and drafts as well as biographical notes about individual family members. The collected genealogical information goes back to as far as 1601. The most complete family trees derive from Louis' paternal ancestor Abraham Wolf and his maternal ancestor Joseph Eckhaus. The genealogical information is supplemented with copies of various vital documents.

The series contains a brief summary about the life of the Wolf family in Kaiserslautern, Germany written by Louis S. Wolf in folder 1/11. He describes their dairy business and properties, and how more and more members of the extended family emigrated to Argentina and the United States due to Nazi persecution. Shortly after the sudden death of Louis' father Willi at the age of 29 in 1936, Louis, his mother Alice, his sister Doris and his uncle Albert were the only members of the family still living in Kaiserslautern. After selling some of their properties to a Nazi officer, Albert managed to organize their escape. At the end of his report, Louis mentions that during a trip to Kaiserslautern in 1994 he learned that the former property of his family between Hühnerstraße and Eierstraße had become part of a shopping mall.

This introduction to the family's history is followed by various computerized and handwritten family trees and drafts in folder 1/11. The genealogical information goes back to as far as 1601. However, the most complete family trees derive from Louis' paternal ancestor Abraham Wolf and his maternal ancestor Joseph Eckhaus, who were both born in 1774. The family trees are complemented by brief genealogical profiles about various members of the Wolf and Eckhaus families in folder 2/2 and numerous documents of Louis Wolf's genealogical research and its results in folders 1/8 to 1/10 and 1/12. Folder 1/10 holds correspondence between several municipal authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate and Louis S. Wolf, his mother Alice Wertheimer and his sister Doris Loeb. The letters contain information about the Wolf family and the Strauss branch of the Eckhaus family. The letters to Louis from 1994 contain information about the Wolf family. Documents such as copies of vital records that were originally attached to these letters can be found among additional similar records in folder 1/8. Further correspondence in folder 1/10 pertains to Louis' visit of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany in the summer of 1994. Included are copies of his letters announcing his trip to the mayor of Kindenheim and further requests as well as thank you notes and correspondence between Louis and the family of his former neighbor whom he met by chance in Kindenheim. During this trip, Louis also visited the graves of many of his ancestors. Photographs showing Louis and various tombstones can be found in folder 1/15. Folder 1/10 also holds a summary about the history of the Jewish Community in Kaiserslautern from 1242 to 1965 by the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora (today Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Folders 1/8 and 1/9 comprise copies of vital documents about members of the Eckhaus and Wolf families and their ancestors. The records in folder 1/8 are copies of birth, marriage and death certificates from the years 1830 to 1907. Most of the copies are dated, and some of them officially certified by the municipalities in Germany that issued them.

In 1995 Louis Wolf engaged Wolfgang Heiss, a genealogist in Germany, to conduct research in local archives about the Eckhaus family and their ancestors such as the Decker, Straus (Strauss, Strauß) and Trifus families. The results of this research can be found in folder 1/9. It holds vital records of various family members from the years 1803 to 1867. The photocopies of these documents are accompanied by informational overview pages created by Wolfgang Heiss. Furthermore, correspondence between Louis S. Wolf and the researcher is included.

This series also presents an original Jewish marriage contract – a ketubah – from 1840. The document is in fragmentary condition and presumably pertains to the marriage of Aron Ben Joseph and Hadas Bat Aharon. However, it remains unclear whether or how the mentioned persons are related to the Wolf and Eckhaus families.

Finally, folder 1/7 holds printouts of information and documents retrieved via ancestry.com by LBI staff members in 2019. Contained is information about Alice Wertheimer's (formerly Wolf, née Eckhaus) application for United States citizenship and the passenger list of the ship S.S. Volendam on which Louis S. Wolf and his family arrived in the United States in 1938.

Papers of Rabbi Shaul Osadchey cover the period from the late 1960’s to the early 1990’s and reflect the activities of Houston Action for Soviet Jewry, co-founded by Rabbi Osadchey. The collection also contains print and near print materials from various American and European Soviet Jewry Movement organizations, and background information on the situation of Jews in the Soviet Union during that period. The documents include correspondence, memos, minutes, publications, news clippings, pins, stickers and a kippah.

Contains a transcript and two cassette tapes.

The Si Frumkin Papers include Mr. Frumkin’s articles on the subject of the Holocaust, Israel, the Soviet Union and Soviet Jews from the mid- and the late 1980’s, and a video interview with him and video recordings of several television programs related to the topic of the Soviet Jewry. The documents include articles, news clippings and video recordings.

This collection contains the papers of members of the Siegfried Jacoby family, depicting the family's private lives as well as their literary work. Most prominent among the papers here are many unpublished manuscripts, family correspondence, and Siegfried Jacoby's herbarium. There is also personal correspondence with others, some professional correspondence, official and personal papers, newspaper clippings, and a few notebooks and family photographs.

The collection includes official and personal documents pertaining to Sigmund, Selma and Erna Weinberger as well as photographs of the family, World War I sites and medical staff.

The collection contains materials relating to the Sigo and Else Baum family. The bulk of the collection is made up of photo albums documenting everyday life of the family. Other materials in the collection include, correspondence, official documents, clippings, and an autograph album.

This collection contains personal documents of Sonia Marder Better. The materials include correspondence; official documents; transcripts of school records; poems; notes; and photographs. The majority of the materials relate to the correspondence between Sonia and her parents; documents relating to her migration the United Kingdom and USA; as well as pictures that document the life of Sonia Marder Better and her family.

This collection documents Sonia Wachstein's personal life and professional work. It includes personal documents, correspondence, diaries, and photographs concerning her personal affairs as well as her education and professional life as a social worker.

The Springfield Jewish Federation is a charitable organization supporting educational and social service programs for both the local and world-wide Jewish community. The Federation was founded on May 6, 1941, to aid in the resettlement of Jews fleeing the war in Europe. Assisting Jews in need has remained an important part of Federation activities. The organization took an active part in the American Soviet Jewry movement by coordinating fund raising, community-wide programming, social services and educational activities to help Jews emigrate from the U.S.S.R. and to resettle them in Springfield, IL. The Federation arranged housing, health care, coordinated schools and jobs placement and provided a general orientation to American life for the newly arrived Soviet Jewish immigrants.

The Steiner Family Collection tells the story of the physician Hans Steiner (né Levi), his wife Brigitte (née Marquard), their children Nicholas and Ursula, and related family members. Most prominent in this collection are the family members' memoirs. The collection also holds family documents, including educational and official documents, family correspondence, family photographs, and some family trees.