Julius Schellenberg papers

The Julius Schellenberg papers consist of biographical and genealogical materials, correspondence, and restitution files documenting Schellenberg’s family, his immigration to the United States, communications with friends and family who remained in Germany or also immigrated to America, and his efforts to receive restitution for the confiscation or forced sale of his parents’ property. Biographical and genealogical materials include Schellenberg’s birth certificate, genealogical research, and a family tree. Correspondence files consist of letters and postcard between Schellenberg and his family members and friends in Germany and America. Correspondence from Darmstadt, Goddelau, Hamburg, Herborn, Magdeburg, Mainz, and Ober‐Ramstadt describes daily life, the difficulty and discomfort of living under the restrictions imposed on Jews, and efforts to emigrate. Correspondence from Chicago and San Francisco and within New York describes immigrants’ efforts to start new lives and to help bring their families and friends out of Germany. Many of the correspondents use Schellenberg’s nickname “Schelle,” are friends of Schellenberg’s through athletic activities, are only identified by partial name or nickname, or also address Schellenberg’s friends Bernd or “Solle.” Restitution files primarily consist of correspondence with Dr. E. E. Hofmann II, a German lawyer Schellenberg hired to help him pursue restitution for the forced sale of several properties, the payment of punitive taxes, and confiscated gold, securities, mortgages, bank accounts, jewelry, and furniture. Julius Schellenberg (1916-1994) was born in Goddelau, Germany, to merchant Leopold Schellenberg (1884-approximately 1942) and Klara Schellenberg (nee Fuld, 1882-approximately 1942). He immigrated to the United States in 1937 and settled in New York. He served in the United States Army from 1941-1945, married Sylvia Feinstock, and had three children. Schellenberg’s sister and brother-in-law, Irma and Hugo Oppenheimer, also settled in New York. Leopold and Klara Schellenberg were moved to Frankfurt in 1939, are believed to have been deported to Theresienstadt or Izbica in 1942, and did not survive.