Hildegard Lewis papers

Hildegard Lewis (1915-2010) was born Hildegard Jordan in Koblenz to Lion Jordan and Selma Loeb Jordan. She moved to New York in 1938 at the encouragement of her father's cousin Bessie Lederer. Her sister Karoline and her brother Fritz both emigrated to Palestine in 1938. Her parents were transported to Theresienstadt in July 1942, and her father died there in December. Her mother was transported to Auschwitz in January 1943 and did not survive. The Hildegard Lewis papers include letters and postcards to Hildegard Lewis in New York and New Jersey from her parents, Lion and Selma Jordan, in Koblenz as well as photocopies of photographs of Lewis, her parents, and her brother and sister. The letters provide news about friends and family, describe the Jordans' increasingly difficult situation in Koblenz, and ask for Lewis' help with their emigration efforts.