By staff
Title: Personal Memoirs, Testimonies and Diaries, 1918 -- 1996
Predominant Dates:1920s -- 1950s
ID: RG-01/RG-01
Primary Creator: Lusky, Irena (ca. 1925-)
Other Creators: Broide, Josef, Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany (1945 -- 1952), Epstein, Estera, Fleissig, Nika (1919-), Gerard, Betti (1934-), Gertler, Dawid, Gliksman, Henryk, Halbreich, Siegfried (1909-), Herskovic, Otto, Hirszfeld, Ludwik (1884-1954), Jonski, Jozef (1912-), Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US Zone of Occupation in Germany, Leon, Erica, Lipszyc, Anna (1918-), Mitdank, Marta, Schragai, Alice, van Huzun, John, Ziff, Barry
Extent: 0.0
Arrangement:
The arrangement scheme for the record group was imposed during processing in the absence of an original order. Materials are arranged by creator, then by identifier, as assigned by the processor.
Record group is comprised of thirteen collections and five items, the collections of which are: 1. Nika Fleissig papers; 2. Collection of Dachau diaries and letters; 3. Anna Przeworska-Pratt papers; 4. Siegfried Halbreich papers; 5. Barry Ziff papers; 8. Anna Lipszyc papers; 9. Betty Gerard papers; 10. Dawid Gertler papers; 11. Josef Brojde papers; 12. Henryk Gliksman papers; 13. Central Committee of Liberated Jews in U.S. Zone of Occupation in Germany papers.
Subjects: Accusation and suspicion of collaboration in the Holocaust, Allied Military and Civil administration in Germany, Collaboration in ghettos, collaboration in the Holocaust, Collaboration of Jewish Administration in the Holocaust, Immigration to Israel, Immigration to United States, Jewish-Gentile relations, Jewish courts of honor, Jewish courts of honor--Munich (Germany), Legal defense in the Jewish courts of Honor, Means of adaptation and survival in concentration camps, Means of adaptation and survival in the ghettos, personal diaries, postwar life in Europe, survival tactics
Forms of Material: Diaries--Wartime, Memoirs, Memoirs--Post-WWII, Personal memoirs and recollections, Personal testimonies
This Record Group is composed of 18 sub-record groups, all devoted to personal and collective memoirs and testimonies, recorded soon after the Second World War. There a few narratives narrated during the wartime.
They reflect various aspects of prewar life, survival under Nazi occupation: ghetto and camp experience, hiding, false identity, resistance activity, liberation, and immigration to the countries of current residence. There are several diaries kept in the camp, ghetto, and in the partisan unit. The original records are in English, German, Polish, and Yiddish. Largely, the documents are partially or fully translated in English. Sub-groups or individual collections within this record group comprise original documents, photographs, artifacts, as well as non-original copies and secondary publications.
The record group contains memoirs, testimonies, and other recollections written before, during, and after the war. They reflect various aspects of prewar life, survival under Nazi occupation--ghetto and camp experience, hiding, false identity, resistance activity--liberation, and immigration. There are several diaries kept in the camp, ghetto, and in the partisan unit. The collections also comprise of original documents, photographs, artifacts, digitized materials, as well as non-original copies and secondary source publications.
Largely, the documents are partially or fully translated in English, but there are also original documents in German, Polish, and Yiddish.
Irena Lusky, née Deuel, was born ca. 1925 in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania in an upper middle-class, well educated, and assimilated Jewish family. She describes her childhood experiences in the well-off family focusing on the interfamily relations between herself, her parents, her grandparents, and her sister. Further, Irena Lusky’s narrative depicts a certain strata of Jewish intelligentsia of interwar Lithuania.
The period of 1940-1941, during the Soviet annexation of Lithuania, is reflected through the prism of a young adult’s comprehension of social and political changes taking place in mundane life, as well as of the events jeopardizing the very existence of their family. The latter is related to their arrest and initial stage of deportation, and their release from the transport to Siberia at the last moment. The Deuel family was freed due to the influential intervention of Dr. Finkelstein, an old family friend, who was in high esteem by the new Communist government of Lithuania.
The Deuel family was exposed to the war hardships from the first day, June 22, 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. After a failed flight attempt, they returned to German-occupied Vilnius (Vilna). While en route to Vilnius, they were arrested several times. Although, at that initial stage of German occupation, it was still possible for them to be released from jail either with the help of bribery or simply appealing to “a good German.”
Irena Lusky describes the life in the Vilna ghetto from two perspectives: first and foremost as a young adult experiencing all ghetto hardships and second, to a lesser extent, as a memoir writer of late 1970s. This latter perspective shows the post-Holocaust interpretations together with the author’s personal reckoning. Overall, this combination of two uncorrelated perspectives culminates in the authentic and independent account with regard to the various sides of ghetto life. Ghetto inhabitants, Judenrat members, resistance activities, German authorities, and numerous existential situations are reflected in the narrative. The reader will find among other such reflections, the author’s insights on Jewish leadership as a whole and specifically on such controversial figure as Jacob Gens, the head of the Judenrat and the Jewish Police Force in the ghetto. The Wittenberg Affair is also accounted as the author’s first-hand experience.
Irena was also only indirectly involved in the FPO (Fareinikte Partizaner Organizatsie—United Partisan Organization) and therefore did not join its members in escaping from the ghetto into the forest to continue the partisan struggle. The FPO decided to leave the ghetto before it was liquidated. The Deuel family survived the liquidation of the ghetto only to face German selection. In September 1943, the remaining ghetto inhabitants were taken outside the city into an open field called Rossa for the selection. The first stage of selection separated male and female family members. Irena would never see again her Father, Dr. Finkelstein, and her boyfriend Gamek Sturman. The next stage of selection resulted in the separation of Irena and Tamara from their mother. The Germans directed the daughters to the right, while their mother was sent to the left. The sisters sensed that “right” meant life and some hope, while the people sent on the left were doomed. Irena remembers how her mother was calmed and pleased by seeing the daughters on the life side. Irena and Tamar Deuel were deported to the Kaiserwald concentration camp near Riga, Latvia.
After a ten-week imprisonment in Kaiserwald, Irena and Tamara were transferred to the AEG factory in Riga, a labor camp officially referred as Riga-Strasdenhof camp, where they lived at worked. The conditions there were slightly better than in the Kaiserwald camp. In 1944, with the Soviet Army nearing Riga, the Germans evacuated AEG labor camp to Toruń (Thorn), Poland. Here, another underground factory was to be set up in the former castle, designated as “Fort 13.” Irena Deuel (Lusky) remained in Thorn-AEG, the official camp name, through December 1944. At the end of December 1944, the female prisoners of the Thorn-AEG camp were forced to march west, in the direction of Germany. Being badly wearied and ultimately starved, the prisoners were compelled to keep pace under German command.
Irena Deuel managed to escape from the forced march when the column was passing the city of Bydgoszcz (Bromberg), Poland. She ran up to a house and begged for shelter. Only after the long persuasion, a Polish woman let Irena in. After a week of hiding, in January 1945, the entering Soviet Army liberated Irena and the other girls at their hideout. Wandering through the streets of Bydgoszcz, Irena met her sister Tamara and other girls from the camp. Soon after their group left Bydgoszcz for central Poland and headed for Lublin, then a Polish provisional capital. In Lublin Irena learned that her Mother, Father, and Gamek had not survived. Her father was killed in the Klooga concentration camp, Estonia. Her mother was gassed in Majdanek concentration camp, and Gamek died of typhus.
It was in Lublin that Irena, Tamara, and a few other Jewish girls joined the Bricha Movement (an organized Jewish illegal immigration movement from East-Central Europe through the allied-occupied zones to the British-Mandate Palestine). Eventually Irena met the former Vilna Jewish partisan commander Abba Kovner, who was in charge of Bricha operations in East-Central Europe. This meeting played a decisive role in her future when she made a commitment to Palestine, her eventual Jewish home. In total, Irena’s journey to Palestine lasted from March 1945 to January 1946. After a year and a half of wandering through Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Italy, their group finally arrived in the British-mandated Palestine in January 1946. She, as thousands of others at that time, was an illegal Jewish immigrant brought there by the means of another clandestine Jewish movement-- Aliyah Bet, under the patronization of the Jewish Brigade. Upon their arrival to Haifa, the British authorities interned all the repatriates from their ship in the Atlit internment camp.
Eventually the Jewish Agency provided the internees with appropriate papers, and the British set them free. Her first encounter with fellow Jews in a kibbutz was a disappointment to Irena’s expectations and visions for a free and peaceful life in her Jewish state. Irena highly resented the indifference the locals showed to the newcomers in particular, and to the fate of European Jewry during the Holocaust in general.
It was not until Irena Deuel met Maikel Levin in the summer of 1946 that she began to feel differently about herself and the people around her. Confidence, sympathy, and hope had again filled her life. Having met Maikel at the party, she moved to the Beit Zera kibbutz, on the bank of the Jordan River, near the Sea of Galilee, to be with him. Maikel was a real pioneer and a patriot of the Land. His love helped Irena to appreciate the land and people of Israel. She soon married Maikel and for a while, the couple continued to live at the kibbutz. Irena did not fit into kibbutz work and although she tried her best, kibbutzniks were not satisfied with her. Eventually, it was Maikel’s decision to leave the kibbutz and settle down in a town.
They settled in Givatayim and with the help of a friend Maikel found a job and an apartment. Although they lacked money and situation of the country worsened with every day, they were happy. Adding to this happiness, she became pregnant and looked with hope to the future. On 14 May 1948, independence and establishment of the Jewish State in Eretz-Israel was proclaimed. The war for independence had begun. As a Haganah soldier, Maikel was called up for service. He had to arrive to the Recruitment Center on 18 May 1948. He left home in the morning heading first for work and then, after the workday, to the Recruitment Center. The war between the Israelis and Arabs had already begun, with Jerusalem under siege and local skirmishes beginning to erupt in many places. On that day, 18 May 1948, an explosion at the Central Bus Station, perpetrated by the terrorists, killed Maikel Levin. Irena remained unaware of his fate until the next morning. She was then eight-month pregnant.
In a month Irena gave birth to a girl, but was going through an extremely hard time and suffered mentally and physically. As she recalls, “I was hardly alive, little I comprehended what was going around me.” She could not even take care of her daughter Michal. Eventually time cured her wounds; she remarried to Shimon Lusky, and gave birth to another child, a son. In the 1970s, she was still living in Israel, her past never having left her. She took up this writing with the intention to separate herself from this burden and to place her personal vision, recollections, and reflections in a literary, truthful, and intimate account of her and her time.
Accusation and suspicion of collaboration in the Holocaust
Allied Military and Civil administration in Germany
Collaboration in ghettos
collaboration in the Holocaust
Collaboration of Jewish Administration in the Holocaust
Immigration to Israel
Immigration to United States
Jewish-Gentile relations
Jewish courts of honor
Jewish courts of honor--Munich (Germany)
Legal defense in the Jewish courts of Honor
Means of adaptation and survival in concentration camps
Means of adaptation and survival in the ghettos
personal diaries
postwar life in Europe
survival tactics
Repository: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
Access Restrictions: No restrictions
Use Restrictions:
Copyrighted materials, credits to and references to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust are required
Digital copies might be available upon request
Preferred Citation: RG-01, Personal Memoirs, Testimonies and Diaries. Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Archive.
Processing Information: Materials are primarily described using the local descriptive standards of the LA Museum of the Holocaust.
This collection consists primarily of Irena Lusky's personal memoir. Irena Lusky wrote the testimony in 1976-1977, in Israel. As Irena Lusky writes in the introduction, she began writing her testimony to tell her children about her life.
The narrative’s chronology lies between the early 1930s and the late 1940s. The geo-political aspect of this narrative comprises the following themes: Interwar Lithuania, Soviet-annexed Lithuania, German-occupied-Lithuania, German-occupied Poland, countries of Eastern and Western Europe, and ultimately Palestine and the State of Israel. The author personally experienced the following places of incarceration: Vilnius (Vilna) Ghetto, Lithuania; Kaiserwald Concentration Camp in Riga, Latvia; Riga-Strasdenhof Labor Camp (AEG Factory) in Riga, Latvia; Thorn-AEG Labor Camp, Fort 13 near Kaunas, Poland, and the Atlit Internment Camp in Palestine.
The author reflects on a number of institutions and organizations with which she was engaged or interacted. In this respect, the memoirs shed light on the FPO (Fareinikte Partizaner Organizatsie—United Partisan Organization), the Bricha Movement (organized Jewish illegal immigration from East-Central Europe to the British-Mandate Palestine), Aliyah Bet (clandestinely carried immigration of Jews to Palestine between 1920 and 1948), and Haganah (Jewish paramilitary organization in 1920-1948, a precursor to Israeli Defense Army).
Nika Fleissig (Bronislawa Kohn) was born in 1919, in Craców. She went by the diminutive name, Bronika, in her circle of family and friends.
Mrs. Fleissig begins her testimony with a description of her failed attempt to leave Poland for the USA either before or soon after the German invasion. Before the war, the family resided in Craców. In 1940, Fleissig’s family was evicted from their apartment and transferred to a nearby town, Wieliczka. They stayed in this town through the autumn of 1942, when the deportation began.
During the deportation, the Jews were rounded up in front of the Town Hall. They were waiting for a train for many hours, not knowing its destination. However, when people were ordered on to the train, a Polish policeman pulled Bronika aside and placed her in the truck cabin, next to a Polish driver. The truck drove off, and Bronika soon found herself at the outskirts of Craców.
In Craców she was aided by the family’s acquaintance, Mrs. Pozniak. Since 1942 and through the whole war, Bronislawa lived under a false identity as a Christian girl. Her knowledge of foreign languages helped her immensely. As “Maria Zylinska” she took part in the Warsaw Polish Uprising of August-September 1944. After the Uprising was defeated in October 1944, Bronislawa (Maria Zylinksa) received the same fate as thousands of Polish women; she was sent to German camps. As an interned Polish resistance fighter, she was given a prisoner-of-war status. Bronislawa was deported to the penal prisoner-of-war camp in Oberlangen, located in northwest Germany on the Holland border
Although it was a Penal camp, Strafflager VI C in Oberlangen, Bronislawa worked as an interpreter in the camp’s office. On April 12, 1945 the camp was liberated by Polish soldiers of General Stanislaw Maczek’s 1st Armored Division, which was part of the Second Canadian Corps.
In January 1946, she entered the United States under her real name, Bronislawa Kohn. However, the immigration authorities soon altered her name to Nika, from her nickname Bronika. Her friends and family helped her become acculturated to her new country. Five weeks after her arrival she married Alfred Fleissig, who lost his family in the Holocaust.
This document contains personal documents belonging to Nika Fleissig.
The documents include letters in regards to war reparations, details of a photograph collection belonging to Alicia Magall, a letter to Yad Vashem about Zofja Pozniak, a letter from the doctor in regards to Fleissig seeking therapy, personal letters, a Polish passport, and a Red Cross Certificate. The documents are written in Polish, English, German and French.
These photo-documents reflect Nika Fleissig experience in Germany, where she lived under false indetity in 1944 -1945.
A series of photographs relate to the prewar Poland, namely family life, education and personal relations.
Threr are also photographs depicting her employment with American Military Administration in Germany, in 1945 -- 1946.
The postwar photographs deal with Ms. Fleissig's activities related to commemoration and memorialization of the Holocaust
These reports were compiled by the following special units of the Seventh US Army in 1945: OSS Section, PWB Section, and CIC Detachment. Initially the reports were published in 1945, and then reprinted in 1970s and 1980s. The Reports comprise a fragment of a personal Diary of E.K., a prisoner of Dachau Concentration Camp and a Testimony of E.H. with regard to her Auschwitz experience. The Reports conclude with the Special Case Reports (the cases of interrogated Nazi officials) and a Miscellaneous Section with statistics on the prisoner population and the list of the members of the International Prisoners’ Committee.
Colonel William W. Quinn of the 7th US Army, a general compiler, wrote in the introduction to these Reports: “The Reports remain substantially as they were submitted in the belief that to consolidate this material in a single literary style would seriously weaken its realism.” These reports together with the included photographs address multifaceted themes in respect to the functions of the camp and the townspeople’s reaction to everything related to its existence.
Józef Jonski, a Polish prisoner, was incarcerated in Dachau Concentration Camp. He was born on July 7, 1912. Józef Jonski was incarcerated in the camp Dachau K3, in the Block 18/I. His personal camp number was 11781. This Collection comprises five letters. Four letters are written on the following dates: 18 June 1944; 16 July 1944; 3 September 1944; 1 October 1944. All are written in German, on the camp’s stationary. They passed camp’s censorship. All letters are addressed to his aunt Bronislawa Nowak. The fifth letter, also addressed to Bronislawa Nowak, is written in Polish. It is dated May 2, 1945, which was the third day after US armed forces liberated the camp.
RG-01.03.02.01: Józef Jonski, first letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his sister Bronislawa Nowak in Lodz. In German. Dated 18 June 1944.
Translation:
18 June 1944
My dear aunt,
I hoped that you would remember me, and I was very pleased when I learned that you did. I write to tell you that I received your package and I heartily thank you for it. At the same time, I report to you that I do not want anything, and if I could ask something of you, it is only for you to send me a letter from time to time to tell me how things are there. The package honestly made me so happy, as if little morsels that I still miss, were there, and I would be made even happier if I could receive from you [pl.] a letter, my loves. Four years have already gone by and I have forgotten how you [pl.] look and surely all of you at home have already forgotten me. Then from whom should I learn about it?
Regina had always written seldom and not very nicely to the point that the letters were without meaning, and for some time, she has completely stopped writing. If I could ask something of you, dearest aunt, could you go to her and learn why she does not write? Perhaps she does not want to, or she has another. If it is so, write me without nebulousness, because such occurrences do reach here often enough. I would not have been surprised if it were so, and I would just like to know what is happening to the child. The child is mine and one should not try […]
I think about you as well, what is happening to you, and if I will have leniency, I will calm myself.
I also received a letter from Kornelia and it please me that she copied (sic!) and is good with children. Please tell her that I thank her and to please write more clearly.
Greetings and kisses for Irenka and Sosia. Heartfelt thanks for aunt Ellazeseroska [?] with the children and uncle Ess. [?]
Please write me to tell me about what Stefan and Uncle are doing? And how is Irenka feeling? She was always sick…is she healthy now? And lovely aunt, you were also always sick – you must tell me everything. I kiss and hug you tight my dear aunt with your [essans?]. Your always loving Jozef.
RG-01.03.02.02: Józef Jonski, second letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his aunt Bronislawa Nowak in Lodz. In German. Dated 16 July 1944.
16 July 1944
Dear Aunt,
I received your letter on the 3rd of July and I thank you greatly for it. This letter has greatly changed my life and has inflicted deep wounds on my heart because what I have assumed , though I was not sure and would never have believed if someone else had written to me. So, my dear Aunt, after all that I has happened to me, she does not want to go on with me and I now have contempt for her. Although I must confess to you, my dear Aunt, that I had loved her so much, that it is difficult to get an idea. She was my first and only and, apart from her, I have never had another woman. It seems that without her, it will be hard for me to carry on with my life. If she were to have died, I would not be able to live without her. But when she leaves in this manner, then I no longer want to hear anything more from her because I have already enough ambition and will to preserve. And now she has no place in my memory. Beloved Aunt, on 5th July I received another package from you that gave me the greatest joy of my life. Never in my life was I so overjoyed as now, when I saw what I would have hoped for. And long, long afterwards I cried, alone. What was that, joy or regret. I thank you my dear aunt for your remembering of me, and for what you have done for me I do not have the words to thank you. And please don’t worry about me and if you have to give up something from yourselves in order to send something to me, I do not want anything besides the letters you send me every two weeks. Nothing more. Understood.
Beloved and dear Irenka! Dear God will reward you for the joy you have brought up in me. You asked me if I would include you in a circle of my good friends, but I have none and you are the first I, with tears, have seen. You have put the radiance back in my life and refreshingly poured your soul into my woe. Greetings! You can write a few words to me because the greatest joy here is when one receives a letter and thus far I have only received two letters. Please tell Regina that I already know everything and she should give you my suit because I do not have one and will need one when I come back. You must remove everything that would remind me of her. Kisses to my beloved Wiesia [name] and tell Wiesia that Daddy will soon be home and will be with her. Kisses and hugs to you all, especially for Trenki [?]. I send greetings to Aunt …. [illegible] with children and for Kornelia. I kiss you with love, your Josef.
RG-01.03.02.03: Józef Jonski, third letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his sister Bronislawa Nowak in Lodz. In German. Dated 3 September 1944.
3 September 1944
My dear aunt,
I received your letter from 13.8 on 20.8. Throughout the entire time, I thought that you [pl.] did not want to write to me, because it was some time before I received the letter. For the second time, please write to me once every two weeks, regardless of whether I have received the last.
Please don’t assume that I’m angry since I have not written, but I -------, first I must change the address and after I have changed the address I will write the rest. And now, my dear aunt, please don’t worry about how I am doing. I don’t worry myself and about Regina and please don’t remind me of her. She is dead to me and it is a shame that I had not known about her. But it is good the way it is, I do not need a woman. When one is single one feels better and one should do what one wants.
The best thing is to be healthy and, if you could, let me know how you [pl] look and, thanks to God, I feel good and healthy, and I would like to ask the Almighty to keep me in this condition.
For my part, I wish you all the best, health, and strength until the coming reunion.
I received the package but the bread was bad and I had to throw it in the oven. When you send me a package, please do a better job of drying the bread and do not put the fruits in the middle so it does not get moldy.
Dearest Irenka, I’m waiting for the letter you promised. I only want to hear something from you. You write only about me and Regina and that is not good. I have to know something about how you live there and what you do and all that you are involved in. I thank you for a few words. I greet you and kiss you dearly, along with Aunt and Uncle. Josef.
RG-01.03.02.04: Józef Jonski, forth letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his sister Bronislawa Nowak in Lodz. In German. Dated 1 October 1944.
1 October 1944
My beloved aunt,
I was overjoyed when I received your letter because it is the nicest thing to have something from home here. I thank you for the package; it was very good and not at all spoiled and I thank you greatly for that.
It pleases me that all of you are still healthy, I only want to know about how things with Wiesia are; is she healthy? Does she still think about me? Or do you know what she is concerned about?
I am healthy but I would feel better if I could know something about my little daughter.
Please write to me about all that happens to you. It is already five years since I have seen you all and Wiesia must already be a pretty young girl; Oh! How I would like to see here, but when? And will I see her? Only almighty God knows that. Irenka, I thank you greatly for the pages which made me very happy and I would like you to always write something happy in each letter.
I thank you all for what you have done for me and please always write.
Please send heartfelt greetings to Aunt Marczewska and children, also kisses and greetings to Kornelia and children. Please send greetings to all of my acquaintances as well.
Heartfelt kisses and special hugs to my dear cousin Irenka.
Many kisses and hugs for my dearest child Wiesia. Tell her that her father always thinks about her and when he comes back he will stay with her always..
Yours always loving Josef
RG-01.03.02.05: Józef Jonski, fifth letter written after liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp to his aunt Bronislawa Nowak in Lodz. In Polish. Dated 2 May 1945.
Page 1.
Dachau, 05.02.1945*
Dear Auntie!
This is the first time I am writing to you in Polish which makes me very happy and I think it makes you happy too. So far I am healthy despite all predictions (lit.: ”prophecies”— PH) that I was too weak to survive what we went through here, and what we went through here no one who didn’t go through it will believe. We thank God that in the last moment he sent us the saviors, Americans.
If the Americans were one day late none of us would be writing to our families ever again.
The day of our liberation will always remain in my memory (lit.: ”will remain in my memory for ages”— PH), for if one lived through such day, one will never forget it.
We were liberated on Sunday, the 29th of April at 5:25 (please, note that it’s impossible to gather from the original text whether the author meant 5:25 AM or PM—PH).
No one died on that day except for one who was killed by the bullet intended for a German and those who died of hunger. You have to know that 300 to 400 hundred people were dying of hunger here every day. There were thirty two thousands of us in the camp; most of those are walking or lying, unable to get up skeletons. Apart from that, there are about five thousand of those shot by the Germans lying in the crematorium.
Page 2.
The same fate was to meet us but their (“the Germans”—PH) time was through.
I won’t be writing much more, for I am running out of time (meaning unclear — PH).
It’s very chaotic here because of this suddenly reclaimed freedom.
So far we are still in Dachau. Once we get transported somewhere else I will write you about all the stories of this hell on Earth. As for now, I am saying „hello” to everybody, for I don’t know when
I will be back. According to the latest news no sooner than in two, three months.
Please, say “hello” to Wiesia from me; tell her that I kiss her and soon will come back to her.
Hugs and kisses to Irenka, Rozia, you Auntie and Uncle.
Same goes to Kornel and the kids and the Marczewskis.
Once again, be well and I kiss you all.
Yours,
Jozef Jonski
* Please, note that when writing the date the Poles as well as many Europeans give precedence to the day before the month. Therefore the date in Mr. Jonski’s letter (2.05.’45) is not the 5th of February but the 2nd of May.
It should be clear from the letter anyway, since he is writing the letter in the wake of liberation which he states to be the 29th of April.
This collection contains the personal testimony, autobiography, letter, speeches, and photographs of Anna Przeworksi-Pratt, born Esther Epstein. The documents contain recollections of life in the ghetto, the prewar and postwar period, the experience under German occupation, and religious observations.
Przeworski-Pratt's testimony is presented in the form of a private letter. Shedoes not address the recipient by name, instead calling him respectfully Pan Mecenas (a title for a jurist/lawyer in Poland). In this testimony/letter, she renders her judgments and characterization to a number of people – some of them Polish public figures, others being infamous German perpetrators, as well as the members of the Judenrät in Czestochowa. Among described personalities, there are also her family members, colleagues, fellow camp prisoners, and her new American acquaintances. Przeworski-Pratt emphasizes her satisfaction with American style of life, although in the passages devoted to the Polish Past and especially in the private segments, addressed to Pan Mecenas, she is nostalgic for prewar Poland.
This collection consists of a single manuscript, entitled Her Story in History, penned and illustrated by Erica Leon. The narrative depicts Leon's prewar, wartime, and postwar experiences in Hungary.
Leon narrates the hardships endured by the Jewish population of Hungary during wartime. An apogee of these hardships relates to the critical winter of 1944/1945, when the Germans occupied Budapest. Leon gives special attention to the Communist rule in Hungary. The social, cultural, and ethnic aspects of this time-period are intrinsic to the entire narrative. Her personal narrative of the postwar time well corresponds with a broader description of Hungarian mundane life before the Communists took over.
It should be noted that the Erica Leon’s sketches, illustrating the manuscript, are well integrated in the narrative.
This collection is comprised of a single narrative testimony of Marta Mitdank, detailing her prewar family experience in Nazi Germany; recollections of wartime persecutions and atrocities in Eastern Europe; and postwar life in the Leipzig and reflections on the Holocaust.
Marta Mitdank's testimony is written is written in the form of three letters to the daughters of her close friends: Vera Nussenbaum, the daughter of Yetta Ribetzky Pietrowsky, and Paula, the daughter of her prewar friends, Otto and Trudy Grünbaum. The conclusive part of the testimony includes a description of individuals written about in the narrative, as well as an outline of the level of family relations between the people presented in the testimony.
This collection is comprised of documents relating to the pre-trial hearings conducted by the Jewish Court of Honor, established by The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US Zone of Occupation. These materials include various correspondences between Dawid Gertler and his defense attorney Estera Epstein, as well as other notes made in relation to the proceedings.
These documents stem from the litigation and proceedings concerning the case of Dawid Gertler, one of the former high-ranking Judenrät officials of the Lodz ghetto. The Jewish Court of Honor in Munich tried this case. The documents represent a pre-trial proceeding related to his administrative functions at the Lodz Ghetto Jewish police and collaboration with the German administration. A number of the documents relate to the technicalities of the case, such as Gertler’s willingness to cover the costs of air-flights for the witnesses in his favor and correspondence setting the dates for the hearings.
This collection contains documents of litigations and proceedings in the case of Henryk Gliksman, accused of collaboration with the German administration in the capacity of the Lageraelteste (the Elder of the prisoners) in the labor camp Glashuette (glassworks) in Raków, Poland. In particular, it was believed that he collaborated with the German commandant of the camp. Testimonies of the witnesses are inconclusive and often contradictive. Some witnesses stated that Gliksman was instrumental in rendering aid and support to the prisoners of this labor camp, while the others regarded his as a collaborator.
The documents included in this collection were produced by the Legal Department of the Committee of Liberated Jews in Germany, located in Zeilscheim near Frankfurt am Main, and by the “Rehabilitacje und Erngericht” organization in Munich in 1948 and 1949. The documents, penned by Henryk Gliksman and Estera Epstein, his defense attorney, illustrate mundane life in Raków labor camp, the role of German and Jewish administrations and relations between the elevated in status Jewish prisoners and the ordinary Jewish prisoner population.
RG-01.14, Henryk Gliksman, Litigations and Proceedings
RG-01.14.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to the “Rehabilitacje und Erngericht München” (Rehabilitation Committee) about the Rakow concentration camp.
Date: undated
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
The transcript is addressed to the “Rehabilitacje und Erngericht” in Munich and titled “Remarks and Supplements to the protocol”.
RG-01.14.02, Henryk Gliksman, Handwritten notes
Date: undated
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin alphabet)
RG-01.14.03, Henryk Gliksman, Protocol
Date: undated
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin alphabet)
RG-01.14.04, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to the “Rehabilitacje Committee” (Rehabilitation Committee)
Date: 17 March 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
These handwritten documents comprise the indictment against Henryk Gluecksman, born on April 1, 1907, residing on Frankfurter str. No.39 in Bad Nauheim. The following pages contain the reasons for the indictment.
RG-01.14.05, Henryk Gliksman, points of indictment
Date: 6 August 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
These documents contain points of indictment.
RG-01.14.06, Henryk Gliksman, notes of defense
Date: 14 June 1949, 15-Jun-1949, 16-Jun-1949
Language: Polish
Type of document: Handwritten Defense notes
Written by: probably Henryk Gliksman
Language: Polish
Date: 14 June 1949
RG-01.14.07, Henryk Gliksman, notes of defense
Date: 5 August 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.08, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to the Historical Commission of the Central-Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany, with the seat in Munich
Date: 7 May 1948
Language: German and Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
This document also contains a letter from the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in Frankfurt am Main. An excerpt from the report of Regina Goldstein is attached. In this report she mentions her acquaintance with Henryk Gluecksman. (Sic!)
RG-01.14.09, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to the Historical Commission of the Central-Committee of Liberated Jews in Munich, continuation
Date: 7 May 1948
Language: German and Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
RG-01.14.10, Henryk Gliksman, Affidavits
Date: 27 July 1948
Language: German
In the affidavits Szmulewicz Zyskind and Szymon Mlodinow both state their acquaintance with Gluecksman (Sic!). They only recall positive experiences with regard to him. Gluecksmann had been helping the underground movement of the Rakow concentration camp by covering for them and providing them with information. He also managed to improve the working conditions, as well as the food rations by negotiating with the camp commanders and ensuring the correct share of the food ration was distributed to his unit.
RG-01.14.11, Henryk Gliksman, Transcript of Affidavits
Date: 25 April 1949
Language: German
The Jewish Committee in Celle forwards two affidavits of Chaim Goldberg who will testify about his relationship with Henryk Gluecksberg (Sic!).
RG-01.14.12, Henryk Gliksman, List of witnesses’ names, former prisoners
Date: 6-Apr-1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
Letter written by Gliksman’s attorney Estera Epstein, to the “Rehabilitacje Committee” (Rehabilitation Committee) about witnesses of the defense. They were former prisoners.
RG-01.14.13, Henryk Gliksman, Affidavit of Chaim Szule
Date: 6-Apr-1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
Affidavit of Chaim Szule. He testifies about his acquaintance with the defendant.
RG-01.14.14, Henryk Gliksman, Transcript of the affidavit of Dr. Josef Opatowski
Date: 28-Apr-1949
Language: German
Issued by the Jewish community of Genoa, Dr. Josef Opatowski testifies about his experience with Henryk Gliksman. He states clearly that Gliksman did everything in his power to ensure the wellbeing of the workers; in particular it was true with regard to the patients of Dr. Opatowski. Gliksman would not sent ill workers outside the camp for labor. He kept them within the camp and managed to provide as much medical supplies as possible. Furthermore, he goes into detail about certain charges against Henryk Gliksman and argues against the accusations.
RG-01.14.15, Henryk Gliksman, List of witnesses of the defense, the former prisoners
Date: 6 April 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
RG-01.14.16, Henryk Gliksman, handwritten note, an address
Date: undated
Language: N/A
RG-01.14.17, Henryk Gliksman, postal documents
Date: 1 February 1949, 18 March 1949, 20 July 1949
Language: German
Receipts of a sent mail from Munich to Gliksman in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
RG-01.14.18, Henryk Gliksman, Letter of Notification to Estera Epstein
Date: 7 June 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
Notice to Estera Epstein at the “Rehabilitacje und Erngericht München” (Rehabilitation Committee) to notify her of taking up a legal defense of Henryk Gliksman.
RG-01.14.19, Henryk Gliksman, Testimony of Marzej Krauze
Date: 11 May 1948
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
Marzej Krauze testifies of his acquaintance with Henryk Gliksman. He states that Henryk Gliksman was always helping the Jewish Combat Organization. He also states that Gliksman was once interrogated and heavily beaten by the Gestapo. The document is certified by the Jewish Community of Bad Nauheim.
RG-01.14.20, Henryk Gliksman, Statement of Marzej Krauze
Date: 11 May 1948
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
The original of RG-01.14.19, Henryk Gliksman, copy of statement.
RG-01.14.21, Henryk Gliksman, Witnesses from Rakow concentration camp, in Polish
Date: 18 June 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.22, Henryk Gliksman, Letter of Notification to Estera Epstein about taking up legal defense
Date: 17 July 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
Notice to Estera Epstein at the “Rehabilitacje und Erngericht München” (Rehabilitation Committee) to notify her of taking up a legal defense of Henryk Gliksman.
RG-01.14.22.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter of Notification to Estera Epstein about taking up legal defense, Translation
RG-01.14.23, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to his defense attorney Estera Epstein. Notification of a visit.
Date: 24 July 1949
Language: Polish
Letter by Henryk Gliksman
RG-01.14.23.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Henryk Gliksman to Estera Epstein, notification of a visit, Translation
RG-01.14.24, Henryk Gliksman, Letter of Gliksman's wife to Estera Epstein, elaborating details, Date: 16 July 1949
Language: Polish
Letter by Henryk Gliksman
RG-01.14.24.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter of Gliksman's wife to Estera Epstein, elaborating details, Translation
RG-01.14.25, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to Henryk Gliksman and his wife
Date: 14 July 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.26, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to attorney Estera Epstein
Date: 14 June 1949
Language: Polish
Letter to Estera Epstajn (Sic!)
RG-01.14.26.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to attorney Estera Epstein, Translation
RG-01.14.27, Henryk Gliksman, postal documents
Date: 13 June 1949
Language: German
Postal Receipt of sending mail from Munich to H.Gliksman in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
RG-01.14.28, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to Henryk Gliksman from Estera Epstein about the progress of his case,
Date: 9 June 1949
Language: Polish
Letter to Gliksman
RG-01.14.28.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to Henry Gliksman from Estera Epstein about the progress of his case, Translation
RG-01.14.29, RG-01.14.29, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to attorney Estera Epstein from Maria Gliksman
Date: undated
Language: Polish
Letter to Epstajn (Sic!)
RG-01.14.29.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter to attorney Estera Epstein from Maria Gliksman, translation,
RG-01.14.30, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Maria Gliksman to attorney Estera Epstein
Date: undated
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.30.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Maria Gliksman to attorney Estera Epstein, Translation,
RG-01.14.31, Henryk Gliksman, Authorization signed by Maria Gliksman,
Date: 28 January 1949
Language: Yiddish (narrated in Latin script)
In this document Henryk Gliksman authorizes Estera Epstein to render a legal defense for him against the Rehabilitacje Committee (Rehabilitation Committee) in Munich.
RG-01.14.32, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman regarding the witnesses,
Date: 25 March 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.32.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman regarding the witnesses, translation from Polish
RG-01.14.33, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman about indictment and witnesses,
Date: 20 March 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.33.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman about indictment and witnesses, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.34, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, Henryk Gliksman about his case,
Date: 17 March 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.34.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, Henryk Gliksman about his case, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.35, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman about a meeting,
Date: 31-Jan-1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.35, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman about legal representation,
RG-01.14.35, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Estera Epstein, attorney, to Henryk Gliksman about legal representation, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.36, Henryk Gliksman, Testimony of Henryk Gliksman, a letter to Estera Epstein, attorney
Date: undated
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.36.01, Henryk Gliksman, Testimony of Henryk Gliksman, a letter to Estera Epstein, attorney, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.37, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Maria Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney
Date: 11 March 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.37.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Maria Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.38, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Henryk Gliksman and Maria Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney, in Polish,
Date: undated
Language: Polish
Letter by Henryk Gliksman.
RG-01.14.38.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Henryk Gliksman and Maria Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney, Translation from Polish
RG-01.14.39, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Henryk Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney
Date: 5 February 1949
Language: Polish
RG-01.14.39.01, Henryk Gliksman, Letter from Henryk Gliksman to Estera Epstein, attorney, Translation from Polish
This collection is comprised of materials related to the Central Committee’s activities, particularly with regard to easing the process of obtaining personal documents from the Polish consulates in Germany. It also includes documents outlining establishment and functioning of the Jewish courts of honor in Germany; materials prepared for restitution claims; official correspondences between agencies; and judicial documents of trials.
In particular, the Central Committee of Liberated Jews focused on establishing a dialogue with, the new Polish authorities in order to resolve the following issues:
1. Restoration of ownership of the Jewish estates remaining in Poland. Enabling the processes of succession.
2. Arguing about the fixed fees for the claim process that shall not be corollary of the property value.
3. Prolonging the deadline for submitting claims for the war damages.
4. Easing the issuance of the duplicates from the prewar wedding acts and birth
certificates. To ease this process, it was proposed that the testimonies of two witnesses would suffice as a proof. Having the testimonies of two witnesses, the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in Germany may officially reinstate the prewar Polish certificate attaching the stamp of their own. This provisional document would be regarded sufficient for the Office of Civil Status in Poland. This Office would eventually issue and deliver a proper document to the Central Committee in Germany.
5. The Central Committee discussed numerous complaints submitted by the Polish citizens in German about understaffed Polish Consulates in Germany resultant in inefficient business.
6. The Central discussed difficulties of re-issuance of Polish passports to the Polish citizens. It was requested to ease this process on the part of the Polish Consulate in Frankfurt. The Central Committee pointed out that the Polish Consulate requires submitting of 17 supporting documents in order to obtain a new Polish passport.
Language of the documents: Yiddish (using Latin script), Polish, English, German.
Location: U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, Bavaria, Munich
Time period: 1946 – 1947
List of names which frequently appear in correspondences and other documents:
Attorney Estera Epstein
Dr. Aleksander Celniker
Henryk Goldring
Attorney W. Friedheim
Dr. M. Verstandig
Organization, handwritten and typewritten documents. This record group includes digitized materials.
Language, Yiddish, German, Polish, English
RG-01.16.01, Memorandum, Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany
Type of document: Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany, Memorandum to Estera Epstein, lawyer
Language: Yiddish (in Latin script)
Date: January 30th 1949
RG-01.16.02, Conference notes taken on a Polish military mission, Berlin, September 1947
Type of document: Handwritten notes
Author: unknown (although handwriting shows similar characters to Estera Epstein’s previous documents)
Language: Polish
Date: September 4 – 6th, 1947
Document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended the Conference, attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference read as follows, restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensation of war damages and applications for restitutions.
RG-01.16.03, Letter to the Legal Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, sent via Polish military mission in Berlin
This letter was compiled by Dr. A. Celinikier, Director of Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews, P. Piekacz, President of Central Committee of Liberated Jews, attorney W. Friedheim, Chairman of Federation of Jews form Poland, and Dr. M. Verstandig, Director of Legal Department of the Federation of Jews from Poland.
The letter contains a number of requests to the Polish Government, specifically to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since enormous material and mental damages have been inflicted on the Jews of Poland in the Second World War, the authors requested to adopt the certain changes to the Polish legislature. If adopted, these changes would be of significant help to the remaining Polish Jews. The authors pointed to the unresolved issues of property restitutions, regaining of the Polish passports, and also emphasized complaints about work efficiency and the willingness to help on the part of staff of the Polish Consular outposts.
Language: Polish
Date: October 1st 1947
RG-01.16.04, Handwritten notes about the Jewish Court of Honor
Handwritten notes
In the beginning of October 1945, the first “Jewish Court” was established in the US zone in Germany, in Landsberg, Bavaria. The office in Landsberg included the Jewish Court and Prosecution Office. The following professionals worked in the Jewish Court in Landsberg:
Dr. Samuel Gringauz, Judge (Chairman of DP camp in Landsberg
Natan Markowski, a member of management/ administration
Benjamin Abelski, Chief of Jewish Police in Landsberg DP camp
<p style="margin-left:.5in;"> Dr. Josef Frammer, a physician by profession and a member of Rehabilitation Committee of the DP camp
In the Prosecution Counsel Office was Dr. Shlomo Orenstein, an attorney who used to work as a prosecutor in Lodz, Poland. He was the first Jewish prosecutor in the American zone of occupation in Germany.
The notes were also taken on the following subjects:
<p style="margin-left:.5in;"> - First attempts to establish certain procedures and regulations dealing with the crimes in the camps, etc.
Type of document: Handwritten notes
Author: attorney Estera Epstein
Language: Yiddish
RG-01.16.05, Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany, Memorandum, in Polish
One typed page on the letterhead of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany; with headquarters in Munich. This memorandum specifies four major themes on which the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany concentrates its efforts. These subjects were:
1. Compensations of war damages. It was requested to extend a deadline for registration.
2. Text of the new legislation for succession.
3. The list of lawyers in Poland.
4. Improving the service rendering to all petitioners by the Polish consular posts.
Type of document: one typed page
Author: unknown
Language: English, Polish
Date: unknown
RG-01.16.06, A notice from the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany regarding a positive decision granted by the American administration in the matter of Jewish judicial activities. An official status of the Jewish Court of Honor has been recognized.
The Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American zone of occupation in Germany states that it has received a positive decision from the Americans. It supports the related pursuits undertaken by the Jewish judiciary and Jewish Court over the DP camps in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany.
Type of document: Statement
Author: Department of Public Relations of Central Committee of Liberated Jews in US zone of occupation in Germany
Language: Yiddish, Polish, English
Date: November 20th, 1946
RG-01.16.07, Business trip arrangements and permissions issued by the American military authorities to Henryk Goldring, Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany; Dr. Alexander Celnikier, Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany; Dr. Esther Epstein, Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany. The aforementioned officials are allowed to travel on business from Munich to Berlin.
On the 2nd of September 1947, the Headquarters of 7822 Station Complement Unit (US Military Government in Germany) issued a Travel Document for aforementioned persons travelling on business from Munich to Berlin on the 2nd of September 1947 and 9th of September 1947. The purpose of this trip was to confer with the officials of the Polish Military Mission in Berlin. They were authorized to commute in both directions.
The travel arrangements have been authorized by Colonel George R. Scithers, Liaison Officer of the EUCOM Liaison Office. The cost of transportation was charged to the respective funds of American administration.
Type of document: Authorization for transportation
Issued by U.S. Military Authorities
Language: English
Date: September 2, 1947
RG-01.16.08, Memorandum issued by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in U.S. zone of occupation in Germany. This Memorandum, issued by the Legal Department, inquired about the legal status of the local Jewish courts and also about their judicial activities. There was also a structural determination on the status and role of the central and local courts designated by the Central Jewish Court in Munich.
Memorandum, the text,
Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American zone of occupation in Germany appeal to all local and Rayonscomitees (District Committees) of the Liberated Jews in the American zone of occupation in Germany.
Subject: Judicature
We request the following to be declared immediately,
a) If there is a court established in your committee. If yes, please provide the list of its members.
b) Please specify legal criteria that guide the court in rendering decisions.
c) Please inform if your court has the power to impose imprisonments.
d) Please inform on how many cases the court had completed by now.
We notify that our court made the following decisions at its plenary meeting:
1. On our part the Legal Department states that their Jewish Court of Honor in Munich rules as second and the last instance with regard to all other Jewish courts of honor. The local courts can thus only rule as the courts of the first instance.
2. Every judgment or ruling of the court of the first instance can be appealed to our court of the second and final instance.
3. The appellation term is limited to 14 days.
4. The appellate court is empowered to use reformatio in peius, a Latin term for revising a decision of the court of the first instance.
5. A presiding judge of the court of the first instance has to inform the convict of instructions 1-4 after the judgment had been pronounced.
It is also stated that the Jewish Court of Honor in Munich was the first and last instance for potential rehabilitation applications for the members of the local-and Rayonscomitees (District Committees) when there were no claimants.
The Jewish Court of Honor is located at ZK, Moehlstrasse 12a, room 16.
We expect your immediate reply
Signed by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of the Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany.
Type of document: Memorandum issued by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany to the local Jewish courts.
Language: German
Date: unknown
RG-01.16.09, Handwritten notes by attorney, Estera Epstein
RG-01.16.10, Handwritten List of 72 names.
These are the names of the individuals whose wartime and post-wartime activities were investigated by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany. They were charged with various crimes ranging from illegal actions in DP camps to more serious accusations of collaboration with the German-Nazi administrations in the occupied territories
This List does not refer to a specific DP camps in the American zone of occupation in Germany where the people in question resided. Gleaned from the other documents, especially considering the testimony of Anna Przeworska – Pratt (Testimony of Anna Przeworska (Estera Epstein) in Polish in the form of a letter to a former Polish colleague, RG – 01.04, pages: 13 - 16) most likely the list was from a DP camp in Landsberg.
There is a short note in reference to the given names. The note speaks specifically to their crimes, charges, time served in prison and so on. The cases varied from wartime collaboration with the German administration in the ghettos and concentration camps, to petty crimes like stealing food or clothing in a particular DP camp.
<p align="center"> List of individuals against whom the charges were pressed by the Jewish Court of Honor
1. Halina Poznanska
2. Horowicz Heniek, Milsztajn Hersz
3. Seweryn Cwajg
4. Israel Friedman
5. Dawid Imerglik
6. Leon Pierocki, Elbani Cyjon
7. Szmul Majerowicz
8. Szmul Werner
9. Josef Aleks
10. Wolf Krzak
11. Daniel Sieradzki
12. Majlek Winnik, Boris Blum, Ajzyk Kolpenicki
13. Mieczyslaw Bauczuk
14. Wiktor Jakubson, Eugen Borknn
15. Abram Helmer
16. Salomon Sasson
17. Szloma Fajnberg
18. Szloma Fajgenberg
19. Szecawski
20. Moses Melamed
21. Marysia Warszpieprz
22. Maurycy Pinkas
23. Rozenbaum Kalma and Aron, Sochaczewski Aron
24. Anna Rulc
25. Hersz Fajnbaum
26. Herszl Martm
27. Cesia Ajchenwald
28. Dwora Kozlowska
29. Izaak Nelken
30. Pola Maroko
31. Szmul Rakowski
32. Chaim Berzuk
33. Lewi Chil
34. Szyja Bergman
35. Hersz Fajchman
36. Jesiejel Munk
37. Julja Roth
38. Balon, Farber, Salilan
39. Mendel Adler, Imra Hoch,
40. Awraham Dzingel
41. Wolf Zelkowicz
42. Jakow Miligram
43. Illegible
44. Misza Grabowski
45. Izaak Frajberg
46. Mufeld Duchan
47. Szlojmo Halpern
47. Moses Sandor
48. Wolf Maler
49. Samaj
50. Dawid Szyniecki
51. Mojsze Liber
52. Zawadzki, Zeligson, Praszker
53. Szalom Kazanowski
54. Izrael Fudalowicz
55. Abram Buksbanm, Abram Wulkan
56. Moris Barcyjan
57. Rumakowski
58. Mendel Kenigstein
59. Jakow Bomstein
60. Jakob Fajgenbaum
61. Joel Liber
62. Bernard Frajberg
63. Tamar Beker
64. Abraham Szalenstein
65. Lrla Bialowierska
66. Adolf Szenbach
67. Abram Nachtigal
68. Berysz Herszlikowicz
69. Mojsze Fridenzon
70. Friedberg
71. Englender
72. Zlotykamien
Type of document: Handwritten notes
Author: unknown (although handwriting shows the pattern of writing characteristic to Estera Epstein)
Language: Yiddish (in Latin script), Polish
Date: unknown
The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany took an initiative to settle the issues of restitutions, compensations, recovery of property on behalf of Polish Jews who temporarily resided in displaced persons caps or elsewhere in Germany. Questions of reinstatement of Polish passports for the former Polish citizens have been also discussed. Issuance of various certificates by Polish authorities for the former Polish citizens resided in Germany or elsewhere was also a subject of discussion.
This document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended teh Conference: attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker, and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Liutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference reads as follows: restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensations of war damages and applications for restitutions.
The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany took an initiative to settle the issues of restitutions, compensations, recovery of property on behalf of Polish Jews who temporarily resided in displaced persons caps or elsewhere in Germany. Questions of reinstatement of Polish passports for the former Polish citizens have been also discussed. Issuance of various certificates by Polish authorities for the former Polish citizens resided in Germany or elsewhere was also a subject of discussion.
This document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended teh Conference: attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker, and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference reads as follows: restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensations of war damages and applications for restitutions. Part 1 of 4
The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany took an initiative to settle the issues of restitution, compensations, recovery of property on behalf of Polish Jews who temporarily resided in displaced persons caps or elsewhere in Germany. Questions of reinstatement of Polish passports for the former Polish citizens have been also discussed. Issuance of various certificates by Polish authorities for the former Polish citizens resided in Germany or elsewhere was also a subject of discussion.
This document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended the Conference: attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker, and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference reads as follows: restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensations of war damages and applications for restitution. Part 2 of 4
The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany took an initiative to settle the issues of restitutions, compensations, recovery of property on behalf of Polish Jews who temporarily resided in displaced persons caps or elsewhere in Germany. Questions of reinstatement of Polish passports for the former Polish citizens have been also discussed. Issuance of various certificates by Polish authorities for the former Polish citizens resided in Germany or elsewhere was also a subject of discussion.
This document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended the Conference: attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker, and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference reads as follows: restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensations of war damages and applications for restitutions. Part 3 of 4
The Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany took an initiative to settle the issues of restitutions, compensations, recovery of property on behalf of Polish Jews who temporarily resided in displaced persons caps or elsewhere in Germany. Questions of reinstatement of Polish passports for the former Polish citizens have been also discussed. Issuance of various certificates by Polish authorities for the former Polish citizens resided in Germany or elsewhere was also a subject of discussion.
This document contains 14 pages of handwritten notes, taken during the conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September 1947 at the Polish military mission in Berlin. The following delegates of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone in Germany attended teh Conference: attorney Estera Epstein, Dr. Aleksander Celniker, and Henryk Goldring.
The Polish government was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislaw Gebert. The main themes of the conference reads as follows: restitution claims, a need to prepare the new, appropriate forms for the restoration of full powers of ownership, and applications for opening and closing the processes of succession. Another important issue discussed was a request to extend a deadline for applications for compensations of war damages and applications for restitutions. Part 4 of 4
This letter is written on behalf of Polish Jews residing in postwar Germany. It has been emphasized the new government of Polish People's Republic demonstrates compassion to the unprecedented tragedy befallen on Jewish people of Poland.
This letter outlines a number of serious issues that prevent normalization with regard to the processes of reinstatement of citizenship, issuance of passports, recovery of property, communication and travelling as well as consular support, all in all it is experienced by Polish Jews in postwar Germany.
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime factness and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust.
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 1 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 2 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 3 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 4 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime factness and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 5 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 6 of 7
These judicial organs faced at least twofold task. A mundane task was to serve justice for Jewish population located within displaced persons camps. A formidable task undertaken by the Jewish Courts of Honor and supported by the US Military Government in Germany was however bringing to justice Jewish collaborators. Jewish collaborators, largely the higher echelon of Jewish Councils' members, heads of departments in the ghettos, lager and block aeltestes, Juedische Ordungsdienst service (Jewish police) in the ghetto often than not collaborated with the German Administration. There were instances of drastic activities that led to enormous enrichment and gaining wealth through the black market activities and partnership with the German supervision authorities, such as Gestapo, Police and other security forces.
Such Jewish individuals who ended up after the war in Germany were enthusiastically put on trial. Regrettably prerogatives and functions of the Jewish courts of honor were limited. The people served in the self-established departments of justice demonstrated exemplary commitment to restore justice and serve justice. Jewish collaborators used any possible means to distort the wartime facts and present themselves in the light of public servants, which they never had been, especially during the Holocaust. Part 7 of 7
One typed page on the letterhead of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany; with headquarters in Munich. This memorandum specifies four major themes on which the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the US zone of occupation in Germany concentrates its efforts. These four subjects were:
1. Compensations of war damages. It was requested to extend a deadline for registration.
2. Text of the new legislation for succession.
3. The list of lawyers in Poland.
4. Improving the service rendering to all petitioners by the Polish consular posts.
Business trip arrangements and permissions issued by the American military authorities to Henryk Goldring, Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany; Dr. Alexander Celnikier, Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany; Dr. Esther Epstein, Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany. The aforementioned officials are allowed to travel on business from Munich to Berlin.
On the 2nd of September 1947, the Headquarters of 7822 Station Complement unit (U.S. Military Government in Germany) issued a Travel Document for aforementioned persons travelling on business from Munich to Berlin on the 2nd and 9th of September 1947. The purpose of this trip was to confer with the officials of the Polish Military Mission in Berlin. They were authorized to commute in both directions.
The travel arrangements have been authorized by Colonel George R. Scithers, Liaison Officer of the EUCOM Liaison Office. The cost of transportation was charged to the respective funds of American Administration.
The document contains a handwritten list of names of the individuals whose wartime and post-wartime activities were investigated by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. zone of occupation in Germany. They were charged with various crimes ranging from illegal actions in DP camps to more serious accusations of collaboration with the German-Nazi administrations in the occupied territories.
This list does not refer to a specific DP camp in the American zone of occupation in Germany where the people in question resided. Gleaned from the other documents, especially considering the testimony of Anna Przeworski-Pratt (Testimony of Anna Przeworski (Estera Epstein) in Polish in the form of a letter to a former Polish colleague, RG-01.01, pages: 13 - 16) most likely the list was from a DP camp in Landsberg.
There is a short note in reference to the given names. The note speaks specifically to their crimes, charges, time served in prison and so on. The cases varied from wartime collaborations with the German adminstration in the ghettos and concentration camps, to pretty crimes like stealing food or clothing in a particular DP camp.
The document is in Yiddish (in Latin script), Polish
