Letter written from Gurs concentration camp

Consists of a letter from Arthur Adler, who lived in Karlsruhe, Germany prior to the Holocaust, composed in the Gurs internment camp prior to his murder at Auschwitz in 1942. The letter, dated 15 November 1940, was likely sent to his cousin, Justin Adler, who immigrated to the United States in 1938. Also included is an envelope for a letter addressed to Arthur from the United States that could not be delivered because he had already been deported. Abraham Arthur Adler (Arthur, 1887-1942) was born on 6 January 1887 in Markelsheim, Germany to Jacob (1822-1895) and Mina (née Fränkel, b. 1839) Adler. Jacob was a butcher and married Mina after his first wife, Fromet, died in 1869. Arthur had eight siblings and half-siblings. After his father’s death in 1895, Arthur went to live with his stepsister Githa Lippmann (1865-1941) and her husband Moses Lippmann (1867-1945) in Karlsruhe, Germany. He became a professor at the Goethe-Gymnasium and married Paula Kohn (1890-1925) in 1920. Their son Hans was born in 1924. Paula died in January 1925 of pneumonia. In 1930 he married Brunhilde Levi (Hilde, 1901-1942). Rising antisemitism forced Arthur to resign in 1935. In April 1938 Arthur’s son Hans was sent to a boarding school in England. During Kristallnacht in November 1938 Arthur was arrested and briefly imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp. On 22 October 1940 Arthur and Hilde were deported to the Gurs internment camp in France. They were sent to Auschwitz on 9 August 1942 where they perished.