Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

This collection contains correspondence, official documents, photographs, and other archival materials pertaining to Ralph Moratz (1931-2016) and to his project to locate fellow survivors of his Kindertransport from Berlin to France in 1939. After arriving in France, Moratz and thirty-nine other boys sought refuge in the Chateau de Quincy, a Jewish Orphanage near Paris. In 1941, Moratz was able to escape occupied France with assistance from the Children's Aid Society OSE and resettle in New York.

Raphael Lemkin, an international lawyer, initiated the use of the term "genocide," and succeeded in persuading the United Nations to adopt the Genocide Convention in 1948. Documents include personal correspondence and artifacts; correspondence, documentation, clippings, and articles regarding the United Nations adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment on the Crime of Genocide treaty; and source material for the unfinished manuscript, History of Genocide. Collection also includes photographs, identity cards, articles, papers, essays, clippings, magazines, research materials, term papers, posters, United Nations materials, and microfilm.

Century Productions produced the one-woman show, "Hannah Senesh: Portrait of a Woman Warrior," written and directed by David Schechter and starring Lori Wilner as Senesh. The script was based on the diaries and poems of the WWII Hungarian-Jewish paratrooper Hannah Senesh, with songs and music composed and arranged by Steven Lutvak with additional music by Schecter and Elizabeth Swados. “Hannah Senesh” ran at the Cherry Hill Theater in New York City from 1984-1985 and traveled throughout the U.S. and Israel until 1987.

This collection, which is a sub-group of RG 245 HIAS, includes the records of the main HICEM office in Europe prior to and during World War II. There are also some records from the post-war period relating to the dissolution of HICEM, HIAS’s taking over of HICEM’s operations and HIAS’s work with displaced persons.

This collection contains mainly correspondence between staff of the JDC Landsmanshaftn Department and members of various landsmanshaftn, benevolent organizations of immigrants originally from the same communities, as well as between the Landsmanshaftn Department and the interest-free loan associations (gmilas khesed societies) and heads of the various Jewish communities, mostly in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The American League for a Free Palestine was organized in 1944 to help with the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The collections consists of correspondence, financial statements, lists, pamphlets, fliers, advertisements, news clippings and other ephemera.

The National Jewish Welfare Board Military Chaplaincy Records document the evolution and activities of NJWB’s military chaplaincy agency, which was known as the Commission on Army and Navy Religious Activities (CANRA) from 1942 to 1947, as the Division of Religious Activities (DRA) from 1947 to 1953, and then as the Commission on Jewish Chaplaincy (CJC) after 1953, during the Executive Directorship of Aryeh Lev (1946-1975) and Philip Bernstein (1942-1946). The collection also consists of Aryeh Lev’s records during his service as assistant to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains of the Army (1940-1945), as well as Lev’s personal papers. Most broadly, the collection chronicles the role of Jewish chaplaincy and Jewish participation in the U.S. military effort from WWII to the Vietnam War. Subjects addressed include the establishment of Judaism as one of the major faiths in the U.S. military, patterns of observance among service members, and post-WWII relief work by Jewish chaplains on behalf of displaced persons. Materials include minutes, reports, correspondence, speeches, sermons, autobiographical writings, photographs, questionnaires and printed materials.

The Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity, active between 1904 and 1970 with a predominantly Jewish membership, was established in New York City and eventually opened at least 48 chapters on college campuses across the U.S. and one in Canada. The bulk of the records in this collection were generated, received and collected by the national fraternity officers between 1912 and the late 1950s. Topics represented include black-Jewish relations, military service in WWI and WWII, educational, housing and occupational discrimination, and WWII refugee aid. Materials consist of correspondence, reports, minutes, clippings, serial publications, photographs, pins, financial records, floor plans, manuals, and directories.

The Renate Bridenthal Family Collection primarily documents the lives and especially the emigration experiences of Renate Bridenthal's parents, Elchunon and Irene Rubin. Papers of Irene Rubin are prominent in the collection and include restitution correspondence and her writing. Documents related to Renate and her brother Harribald's early lives and emigration is are also present. The collection consists of extensive personal and restitution correspondence, official documents, newspaper clippings regarding Irene Rubin's death, drafts of her writing, and three albums.

The Reni Roberts (Renate Seefeld) Family Collection holds official papers of the Seefeld and Bash families, pedigree charts, genealogical notes, and family correspondence; the bulk of the collection however consists of 16 photo albums and several loose photographs.

This collection contains the papers of Resi Weglein and reflects various periods of her life, especially the time period 1942 to 1945. Resi Weglein and her husband Siegmund Weglein were deported to Theresienstadt in August 1942, where she helped to provide health services to the detainees. The bulk of the documents in the collection consist of personal correspondence, restitution materials, emigration and immigration papers, and photographs. The collection also includes two handwritten notebooks of Resi Weglein and associated manuscripts which reflect her experiences as a nurse in Theresienstadt. The collection also provides information about the rest of her family, especially her husband Siegmund Weglein, who served in World War I, and her son Walter Weglein (later Weglyn), who was rescued via Kindertransport. Also included are clippings, book reviews, reports and correspondence from the War Refugee Board, and an assortment of materials pertaining to the Theresienstadt period.

The core of this collection contains published as well as unpublished manuscripts by Richard A. Ehrlich, centering on his life in the Prussian town of Rogasen and his internment in Thersienstadt. Also included are his correspondence with Albert Einstein, Bertha Badt-Strauss and others, as well as documents pertaining to the extended Alexander-Ehrlich family.

This collection contains the documents of diplomat Richard Straus, his wife Elaine, and his son Alan in addition to documentation on his extended family members, especially including members of the Straus, Heimberger, and Niedermann families. The most prominent topics in the collection relate to Richard Straus's role as diplomat, family members' emigration and Holocaust experiences, and Alan Straus's early life, although material relating to family members' lives in Germany prior to the 1930s is also present. The collection includes extensive personal family correspondence and photographs; official, educational, and professional documents; family members' writings as well as articles about them; childhood and educational memorabilia; and documentation related to the deaths of family members.

The Robert Lowy Family Collection details the immigration of the Lowy family to the United States via Belgium. It also features the restitution of the family for its losses and the education of Robert (Ralph) Lowy. Many family members are remembered through the collection's numerous photographs. Aside from photographs and photo albums, the collection includes much correspondence, official documentation, notes and notebooks and some educational certificates of Robert Lowy.

The Robert Schwarz collection contains some original and photocopied materials pertaining to his biography, although the bulk consists of off-prints and photocopies of his published articles, dealing with Austrian history and literature in the 1930s.

The collection documents the lives of Ludwig Löwenthal and his wife Rosa (née Kohn) with their teenage son, Willi during their time in the Netherlands and subsequent deportation to Theresienstadt. The collection includes personal correspondence from the camp and official documents from Germany and the Netherlands.

This collection consists mainly of correspondence between family members of Rose Wegner, predominantly of her mother Gertrud Leon's letters from Berlin to Rose in New York in the years 1938-1942. The recent correspondence between Peter Leon and Beate Niemann deals with the past of Beate's Nazi parents and their connection to the Leons.

This collection documents the personal and professional lives of Hans Rosenberg (1908-1982) and his wife Ernestine née Rosner Rosenberg (1912-1962), from their childhoods and early medical careers in Vienna to their final years in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The collection also includes items from associates and friends, along with extended and immediate relatives, most notably Hans Rosenberg’s sister Madeleine née Rosenberg Buchsbaum (1911-2014).

This collection contains family correspondence and employment, immigration and restitution correspondence and documents. Also included are photographs relating to Ruth Taub and her parents, Isaak and Lisette Nathan.

The bulk of the collection consist of scrapbooks containing information on the Jewish community of Philadelphia and other subjects.

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 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."

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.

The Seder Ritual Committee was created to compose a prayer memorializing the Holocaust. This collection documents their activities, and includes correspondence, publicity, orders, and copies of the Seder Ritual of Remembrance.

This collection contains official documents, such as visa and travel documents, and correspondence pertaining primarily to Eugen Julius and Matje Baum. Also included is a photograph and a memoir by Alain Lang.

Folder 1/1 contains official documents and correspondence. Included is a copy of Eugen’s birth certificate from 1901, reissued by the Third Reich in 1937 as well as Matje Cohen’s Dutch birth certificate from 1917. Also included is Karl and Luise (née Frank) Baum’s wedding certificate from 1871, reissued by the Third Reich in 1937. In addition, it contains declarations of citizenship and religion with translations, Eugen Baum’s declaration of good conduct from 1935, his declaration of moving from Kehl to Rotterdam in 1937, and Eugen and Matje’s Dutch wedding certificate, signed in 1937 in Rotterdam.

Further documents regard their emigration to Haiti, including papers supporting their naturalization in Haiti, Eugen’s Certificate of Naturalization from 1940 and Eugen and Matje’s Haitian passports. These passports include stamps for their immigration admission to the United States. The folder also holds proof of financial independence for Eugen regarding his immigration to the United States and a Certificate of Literacy from the University of the State of New York for Eugene Baum in 1952. Other documents pertain to Eugen and Matje’s daughters Mina and Reina. These include a French declaration of Mina’s birth regarding the claiming of French citizenship for her in 1938, and a document certifying the registration of Mina as a French citizen, issued at the French consulate in the Netherlands in 1939. In addition, it holds alien registration cards for Mina and Reina Baum for the United States from 1945 and correspondence regarding their citizenship from 1951.

Folder 1/2 contains a copy of a photograph of Sallie Cohen with his sons Barend, Max, Harry, and Louis from 1942, all wearing a yellow star. Folder 1/3 holds a self-published photo book/memoir titled ‘Mon Histoire de 1939 a 1968’ by Alan Lang from 2010. It contains a handwritten note, indicating that it was gifted to Mina Bernhard by Alan’s son Philippe.

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.

The collection consists of 6 boxes and 46 folders.

The collection relates to the life of Jewish refugees, mostly of German and Austrian origin, in Shanghai primarily between the years 1939-1948. It covers many aspects of their experience, including political and cultural events, relief and charity activities, and self-help. The collection originated from the YIVO exhibition that was organized and displayed in 1947 in Shanghai and later in New York. The collection consists of manuscripts, minutes of meetings, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and printed materials.