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Lecture given at the Goethe Institut San Francisco.
No full textThe lecture was held at the Goethe Institute in San Francisco. Description of life in Berlin in the 1920s. Childhood in an assimilated well-to-do Jewish family the Weimar Republic. Her father was a lawyer and editor of the "Vossische Zeitung", who had his office in the front part of the apartment. Her mother a devoted singer who performed occasionally at the "Singakademie". Recollections of Sunday morning walks and visits to the museum at the center of the town. Earliest memories of food shortages during World War One. Private lessons in the aftermath of the war. Summer vacations in the German and Swiss Alps. Birth of her younger brother in 1921. Visits at her grandparents together with her older sister Irene. Memories of Christmas celebrations with family gatherings. Celebration of the Jewish holidays with her maternal grandparents, who were devoted orthodox Jews. Recollection of the assassination of Walter Rathenau in 1922, which made her aware of the undercurrent antisemitism. Her father became an active member of the Democratic party and was elected alderman (Stadtrat) of the city of Berlin in 1928. Description of the vibrating cultural life of Berlin. Eleanor attended the Auguste Viktoria Realgymnasium, an all-girls school preparing for university. Recollection of teachers and schoolmates. Theater and concerts. Private dance classes. Summer vacation in England to improve her English skills in 1931. Eleanor passed her final exams in 1932 and started to study medicine at the university in Heidelberg. Rising antisemitism and political unrest. With Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933 Jewish students were soon expelled from university. Soon thereafter Eleanor left Germany for Paris.Eleanor Alexander (nee Eyck) was born in Berlin in 1913. She began to study medicine. In 1933 she left for Paris, where she met her husband. Emigration to London, Brazil, and the United States.Synopsis in fileBerkeley (California)BostonBrandeis UniversityCambridge (Massachusetts)LondonPrincetonGermanySwitzerlandChildhoodChristmasEducation, Jewish, 1918-1933MedicinePoliticsProfessions and occupations, brokersProfessions and occupations, editorsVossische ZeitungWeimar German
"... und half mir mit Gottes Hilfe selbst" : ein Lebensbericht von Erna Huth /
No full textThe memoirs of Erna Huth were recorded by her nephew Michael Weber in 1993. Childhood in an assimilated Jewish family. Erna Huth's father was an architect who made his living as a journalist and writer. Recollections of Christmas celebrations. Erna graduated from Lyceum (high school) in 1911. Her plans to continue her studies were not granted. She started to work in her father's publishing company. Death of her mother in 1928. Nazi-takeover in Germany in 1933. Sudden dismissal from her position as a secretary due to her Jewish heritage. Increasing discrimination by former colleagues and acquaintances. Difficulties of her father to continue his profession as a journalist and editor. Emigration of her younger brothers Gerhard and Georg. Attempts to obtain exit permits for the United States and England, which only arrived after the beginning of the war. Erna and her sister Agnes were stuck in Berlin together with their father. Erna started to work at the Jewish welfare and youth department of the Jewish community. Position at an insurance company. Increased anti-Jewish regulations and the constraint to wear the yellow star. Erna's sister Agnes worked as a housekeeper at a Jewish family. Marriage of Agnes with the considerably older Alexander Boehm in 1941. Deportation of Agnes and Alexander Boehm to the Ghetto of Lodz. Diminishment of Erna's friends and relatives, who either emigrated or were subject to deportation. Support of her superior. Life in hiding. Refuge at houses of friends. Constant fear of discovery. Difficulties to obtain food stamps. Position as a nurse for an elderly lady provided her with a new identity and a place to stay. End of the war and liberation. Reunion with her relatives.Addendum: Reflections by Michael Weber, Documents, Letters, Historic Chronology, Family Tree, BibliographyErna Huth was born in 1895 in Charlottenburg, Berlin. She was the oldest child of four of an assimilated Jewish family. Erna Huth survived the war years in Berlin under great difficulties in hiding.Synopsis in fileCharlottenburgPodsdamAssimilationChildhoodChristmasDeportationEducation, primary and secondary, 1871-1918Germany, history, 1933-1945Holocaust, survivorsNazi Germany, Jewish communal and cultural lifeProfessions and occupations, writersRighteous Gentiles in the HolocaustBoehm, Agnes ; Boehm, Alexande
HIAS 120-Year Celebration--Elie Toveg (Box 107, Folder 12)
No full textThis folder of material was located in Box 107. Folder originally titled: 120 Stories - Toveg.Digital ImageDigital finding aid
Hanna (Hanka) Hirszhaut personal papers (RG 720, Folder 552)
No full textFolder includes: Autobiography, Survivors' Chronicle, 2004, Secret report from Pawiak Prison (copy), 2001.Digital ImageDigital finding aid available
Limited autobiography of Jules Wallerstein.
No full textBrief description of orthodox family background. His mother Paula, nee Rau, was a student at Heidelberg University prior to her marriage. His parents got married in 1926. The family lived with his father's mother in a six-room apartment and kept a kosher home. The author's younger sister Edith was born in 1932. Julius attended the "Juedische Realschule" and had friendly relationships with non-Jewish children. Recollections of the Night of the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht) in 1938. His father was forced to hand over the jewelry store of the family to Nazi authorities. Experiences of antisemitic attacks. Preparations to emigrate. The family left for Cuba on May 13, 1939 on board of the St. Louis departing from Hamburg. They were refused entry to Cuba and had to return to Europe again. They stayed in Belgium and waited for their visas to the United States. Julius attended public school and was Bar Mitzvahed in the Main Synagogue in Brussles in 1940. A month later the Germans invaded Belgium. His father was sent to Camp Les Gurs in France, and the family followed him to Vichy France through an illegal passage. They finally received visas to the United States and left Marseilles in 1941. They immigrated to the United States via Casablanca and arrived in New York in January of 1942. Life in the United States. Jules was drafted into the US army in 1945 and was sent to Germany in a Counter Intelligence Mission. Return to the States in 1947. Work in an electronic company. Marriage in 1953. Move to Connecticut in 1967. Reunions of St. Louis survivors and visits to Fuerth.Julius Wallerstein was born in Fuerth, Bavaria in 1927. His father Anton Wallerstein was a trained bookkeeper and owner of a jewelry store. His family was on board the St. Louis when it was turned away from Cuba and Miami. The family was sent to Belgium and managed to immigrate to New York via France, Algeria and Marocco in 1941.Synopsis in fileRau, familyBrusslesCasablancaForchheimFrankfurt am MainHavannahMarseillesNorwalkNew YorkEducation, Jewish, 1933-1945Jews, liturgy and ritualJews, rites and ceremoniesSynopsis in fil
My life story [1931-1994]
No full textThe memoirs contain copies of photos and detailed family trees. Description of the authors childhood in Nikolsburg (Mikulov), a town in the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia. History of Nikolsburg. Recollections of cultural events and the celebration of religious holidays in the community. John's father Julius Schaffa worked in the restaurant of his father and was also a frequent performer at local theater plays. Description of domestic life. Birth of his brother Eric. In 1936 John Schaffa attended the German Primary School in Nikolsburg. Antisemitism due to the growing Nazi movement. German occupation of Sudetenland in 1938. Preparations to leave the country. Emigration to England via Lundenburg, Vienna and Holland in 1939. Arrival in London in August 1939, where the family was welcomed by the Jewish Refugee Committee. Declaration of World War II. John continued his schooling in England. His father joined the Czech Army Brigade and became a soldier in the war. Evacuation to Edmond Castle in the village of Hayton, in Cumberland. Continued education at the Czechoslovak State Secondary School at Hinton Hall near Whitchurch. John's mother and aunt got positions among the support staff at the school. Bar mitzvah celebration at the West Hempstead Synagogue in London. After the end of the war his father was released from the army and got a position as a chef in a London West End restaurant. After graduation John started a job in a bakery. The family was granted British Citizenship in 1949. John Schaffa decided to join the Royal Air Force and was stationed at the base in Henlow for two years. Resuming his career as a pastry chef. Position at the Confiserie Hirsch in Chur, Switzerland.In 1961 he moved to New York. Continued education at City College with studies in psychology. Start of a new career in the mental health field. Marriage to Isabel, a Catholic from Puerto Rica in 1982. Birth of their daughter Cassandra in 1983. First visit to Czechoslovakia in 1989 with his family. Retirement and move to Florida.John Schaffa was born in 1931 in Brunn, Czechoslovakia. His grandfather Moritz Schaffa was a restaurant owner and head of the Jewish Congregation in Nikolsburg. After the German occupation the family emigrated to England in 1939. John Schaffa became a pastry chef and moved to New York in 1961, where he changed careers and worked in the mental health field. He retired to Florida, United States.Synopsis in fileSchaffa, Hirschl Jacob, 1762-1828Schaffa, Moritz, 1866-1932Hahn, Lowi, 1752-1811Hahn familyHollandSwitzerlandBrunnHaytonHenlowBreclavPragueViennaWest KirbyWhitchurchAnschluss movement, 1918-1938ChildhoodCzech Army BrigadeEducation, Jewish, 1933-1945Education, primary and secondary, 1933-1945Family treesHolidays, JewishJewish communities, leadershipJewish Refugee CommitteeJews, liturgy and ritualJews, rites and ceremoniesMilitary service, World War IINazi Germany, persecution of Jews, 1933-1941Orthodox JudaismProfessions and occupations, chefsProfessions and occupations, merchantsProfessions and occupations, pastry chiefsProfessions and occupations, restaurant ownersProfessions and occupations, Social workersUniversity and college
Soviet Jews' Witness Accounts: Interview with Stella Rauchman, Part I
No full textDigital recordingDigital finding aid
HIAS 120-Year Celebration--Mariya Khakham (Box 107, Folder 8)
No full textThis folder of material was located in Box 107. Folder originally titled: 120 Stories - Khakham.Digital ImageDigital finding aid
New York City (Box 115, Folder 5)
No full textThis folder of material was located in Box 115. Folder originally titled: New York City - Miscellaneous - 2001.Digital ImageDigital finding aid