Emigration and immigration

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence to the siblings Elisabeth and Margaret Jonas in Kent, England from their parents Julie and Julius Jonas and others in Hamburg, 1938-1939. Also included is the guestbook of the Melamid family in Antwerp and in New York, 1933-1949, containing signatures, drawings and photographs.

The Elk-Zernik Family Collection provides documentation on the lives of several family members, especially Rabbi Max (Meir) Elk, dentist Benjamin Elk, Helmut Zernik and Charlotte Elk Zernik. The collection also holds the written compositions of several family members, including the sermons and articles of Max Elk and the autobiographical writing of Charlotte Elk Zernik. Other material includes a photo album and family photographs, a scrapbook, official papers and certificates, letters, some correspondence and clippings.

This collection documents the personal and professional lives of Ella (née Kalt) and Ernst Stern. It contains official records and papers concerning their careers in Vienna until 1938 as well as documents about the dressmaking business they ran in Manhattan after their immigration to the United States.

The Ellis Family Collection consists of the papers of John and Eva Ellis and of many of their related family members. The collection has a particular focus on the education, marriage, and emigration of John (born Hans Elias) and Eva (née Steinitz), with further documentation of the couple's early lives and later professions. In addition, the collection holds a great deal of information on their extended families, with material on the related Elias, Steinitz/ Samuel, Fein, Goldschmidt, Eschwege, Mindus, and related families, including documentation of individual family members and the families in general and their histories. The collection includes extensive family and personal correspondence, official documents and correspondence, personal and professional writing, educational certificates, immigration documentation, photographs and photo albums, family trees and narratives of family history, and other documentation.

The collection consists of photo albums, photos, private and legal documents, private correspondence, and correspondence and documents regarding the reparation claims members of the Blum family after the emigration.

Emigration 1864-1952: This collection - encompassing about 90 years - contains papers about the situation and persecution of Jews in Eastern European countries (Russia, Poland, Roumania, Bulgaria, Lithuania). Papers describe the activities of various relief organizations. There are more than 170 papers (ca.900 pages), about half of them written in German, about 30 each in French or English, over 20 in Yiddish and some in Polish. A printed appeal of the Reichsausschuss fuer Russisch-Juedische Fluechtlingshilfe, Berlin (1929) carries among others the signatures of Leo Baeck and ALbert Einstein. (VI, 16).

Folders 13 and 14 pertain to the friends and extended relatives of Ernestine and Hans Rosenberg, respectively. The folders contain mostly handwritten correspondence about family life, particularly the dangers of wartime Europe, but Folder 14 also includes genealogical information about Hans Rosenberg’s family dating back to the late nineteenth century. Folder 15 contains a 1920s postcard from Renee née Goldschlaeger Kraessel, the maternal aunt of Ernestine Rosenberg, and sheet music from pieces that Renee wrote and co-wrote. Folder 16 contains restitution papers for Renee’s brother, Karl Goldschlaeger. Folder 17 includes personal and professional correspondence with Hans Rosenberg and typewritten lectures from Emil Fröschels, a speech and voice specialist at the University of Vienna and mentor to Hans.

The Enrique Lerdau Family Collection focuses on documentation of the lives of Fritz and Barbara (née Elkan) Lerdau and their children, including their early years, marriage, and emigration to Peru. In addition the collection provides material on the Elkan and Rée families and their members, and to a smaller extent on the Lerdau (formerly Levy) family, including some genealogical information. The history of the hops industry and of the company J.F.U. Scheibel is also mentioned among the documents of this collection. The collection includes an assortment of documents, including extensive correspondence; several memoirs; official, legal, educational, financial, and military documents; many photographs; and family writings including poems, notebooks, and eulogies.

The collection contains personal papers, correspondence, and some photographs of Erich and Eva Holzer. It includes primarily education and work certificates as well as visa and emigration papers.

The Erich Jacobs collection contains documents and correspondence, as well as genealogical tables of both the Jacobs and Neumann families. There are several documents regarding emigration attempts, as well as receipts, passport and naturalization forms, registrations to various organizations, and certificates. Much of the collection includes facsimiles of the original records with translations attached.

The Erich Seligmann Collection documents the noteworthy events in the life of this bacteriologist and hygienist, holding material on both his personal and professional life. The material focuses on the events of the 1930s and 1940s, including the loss of his position in Berlin, his immigration to the United States and World War II. The collection consists of diaries, a family history, professional documentation, a small amount of correspondence and a few family trees.

This collection holds personal and official documents, correspondence, genealogical information, biographical manuscripts and photographs related to the Feith, Lyon and Katz families. Most of the documents pertain to Erna Bonette, Fred Gustav and their son Henry Arthur Katz. The collection focuses on their lives in Germany and the United States as well as their emigration via Luxemburg and Portugal. It also holds materials pertaining to members of the extended Katz and Lyon families and their ancestors, including the Feith family. Also included is material about a Mikveh from the 15th century in Siegburg, Germany.

The bulk of the collection covers Erna Weill’s professional career as sculptor and art teacher. In addition there is some personal information about the time before her immigration to the USA in 1937.

The Ernest Kahn Family Collection documents the lives of Ernest Kahn, his father Morris Kahn, his mother Ida Kahn née Levy, his sister Ruth Kahn, and his maternal grandmother Amalie Levy née Blumenthal. The bulk of the collection contains correspondence and financial statements pertaining to restitution claims filed against the German government.

This collection documents the work of the lawyer and researcher Ernst C. Stiefel, especially the research pertaining to his book Deutsche Juristen im amerikanischen Exil (1933-1950). Included here are articles and offprints, correspondence, notes, and copies of archival records from several institutions. Although the major focus of the collection is on Stiefel's research on German Jewish refugee jurists, other topics found here include National Socialism, post-war Germany, and various legal topics.

The Ernst Heumann Family Collection documents three generations of this family, including members of the Messer, van Gelder, Oppenheim, Haas, and related families. Much of the collection centers on how the businessman Ernst Heumann and his wife Hedi née Messer established themselves in the United States and built their family, although documentation on their early lives in Germany and their emigration is also present. Although the bulk of the collection consists of the family's extensive personal correspondence, official and personal documents are also a central part of the collection. The collection contains correspondence; official documents; educational documents; family writing including poems, essays and short stories; travel memorabilia; some immigration papers; legal documents; Ernst Heumann's business correspondence and papers; family trees; and other documentation.

This collection contains the genealogical research of Ernst Oppenheim, and includes his investigations into the Oppenheim, Pasch, Breit, Altschul, Sirkis and Jaffe families. Included are his extensive correspondence, family trees and copies of original documentation, as well as interview transcripts and notes.

This collection contains documents, diaries and personal correspondence of Ernst Scheuer and Rosi Moses Scheuer. They document their life in Paris and their imprisonment in French detention centers in 1939-40 and in Spanish prisons 1940-41. The documents illustrate the struggle for U.S. Visas and the subsequent emigration to the United States, as well as the efforts to establish themselves in New York. The collection also contains numerous manuscripts written by Ernst and Rosi Scheuer, a large number of them being autobiographical.

The collection contains personal papers, vital documents, correspondence, and memoirs of two generations of Warschauer and Casper families.

The correspondence, newspaper clippings, and official documents contained in this collection chronicle the impact of World War II on the life of Erwin Taenzer, an electrician and the son of a rabbi, and his extended family.

The Esther Milich Family Collection holds documents about the immigration of Esther Milich and her brother Nathan Berkowicz in 1939 and about other members of the Berkowicz and Milich families, including the fate of Berkowicz family members left behind in Europe. The collection also contains documentation on the restitution claims filed by Esther and her brother. This collection includes official, legal, and personal family correspondence; official and legal documents; personal family papers; and a few photographs and newspaper clippings.

This collection pertains to the life of Eva Kahn (née Krafft) and members of her extended family. It encompasses documents of her life as a child and teenager in Eger (today Cheb, Czech Republic) and later in Chicago, Illinois. Included in her personal papers are school materials and a friendship book. The collection furthermore documents the lives of family members of Eva Kahn and her husband Stephen Martin Kahn with correspondence, photographs, a baby journal and an autograph album. Two letters written by Eva Kahn's cousin Martin Wels who was killed in the Holocaust are part of the collection.

This collection portrays the personal and professional life of the violinist Felix Freilich. It also provides information on his wife and the genealogy of their families. The collection contains correspondence, family trees, photographs, clippings, publications and music scores. Subjects found in this collection include the genealogy of the Freilich and Greenberg families, the professional life of Felix Freilich, and the city of Altenburg, Germany.

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.

The Flora Morstadt Collection documents the life of Flora Morstadt and her family mainly through the years 1938-1944. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters from Flora Morstadt to her family during World War II. Other materials include documents relating to emigration, post-war identification cards, and Flora Morstadt’s recipe book.

The Frances and Gustave Kauders Family Collection holds the papers of this couple, as well as of members of the Kauders family, and correspondence from the Schostal family. Topics found in the collection include the immigration of Frances and Gustave Kauders, some details of their early lives as expressed in family correspondence, and the failed emigration and subsequent deportation of members of the Schostal family. The collection includes family correspondence, official and educational documents, and correspondence with official agencies regarding immigration and restitution with related documentation.

Various archival materials relating to two members of the Franco family and to Adolf Abraham Josefsthal.

This collection documents the life and significant experiences of Frank M. Sherman. Prominent themes in this collection are his work for the United States military during World War II, his and his family's experiences in Nazi Germany, and his membership in the Deutscher Vortrupp. The collection consists of a large amount of correspondence as well as clippings, audiocassettes, publications, scrapbooks, official papers, notes, and a few photographs of friends or family members.

This collection consists primarily of Werfel family correspondence from 1940-1947. Letters and telegraphs mainly document Franz and Alma Werfel's escape from France to the United States, and the efforts of Franz's sisters Marianne Rieser and Hanna Fuchs-Robettin to help their parents escape Europe by way of France and Portugal. Additional correspondence concerns Ferdinand Rieser's work at the Zurich Schaupielhaus, and the collection also contains a typescript of the Marianne Rieser play "Your Problem Please."

The Fred Emil Katz Collection holds material on the Katz family of Oberlauringen, Germany. Most notable in this collection are the articles and exhibitions that document what happened to the Jewish families of Oberlauringen during the Holocaust. In addition, the collection includes personal correspondence, photograph albums, and a book.