Eleanor Hess: family papers

This collection of papers documents the life of a German Jewish refugee to Great Britain, Eleanor Hess, and, in part, the lives of family members. The papers include emigration and citizenship papers of her grandfather Emil, c1870s; certificates and First World War army records of Julius, her father; and correspondence from Eleanor and her brother, Herbert, in Brazil, to their mother, c1950s. In addition there is an unpublished memoir of Eleanor, which describes the life of a Jewish girl in Nazi Germany and the experience of emigration to a foreign land. Emil Hess was born 9 April 1851, the son of lawyer Jakob Hess and Zilli, nee Klopfer. Emil is described as a 'Holzhändler'. There is a US naturalisation certificate for him dated 17 Sep 1872 although it is not known how much time he spent in the USA. He married Mathilde née Engländer and they had a son, Julius, born 17 Oct 1880 in Munich. Julius, was a cavalry officer in the First World War. He married Gertrud Oppenheimer and died 19 Jun 1932. Gertrude Charlotte Hess was born 15 May 1895 in Mannheim to Emil and Clara Oppenheimer. Julius and Gertrud had two children. Eleanor Hess was born Irene Eleonore Maria Hess in Munich on 20 December 1923. Eleanor came to Great Britain with her mother in 1939. Her brother, Herbert, born 31 May 1921 immigrated to Brazil where he eventually died in 1981. For a brief period Eleanor went to live with her brother in the early 1950s. She died in London c1999. Open