Rose Abrams papers

Rose Abrams (1921-2016) was born Roza Margolis on 19 April 1921 in Tver, Poland to Max and Mania (Maria, née Gregsman) Margolis. She had one sister, Estera (b. 1917). The family first lived in Tver and later moved to Łódź, Poland. In 1939 Estera moved to Paris to study economics. In July 1939, the family joined her in Paris so that Rose could have ear surgery. After the surgery, Max and Mania returned to their home in Lodz on 21 August 21 1939 and Estera and Rose planned on joining them later. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 the sisters had to remain in Paris. Before the Łódź ghetto was sealed, Max and Mania fled to Warsaw. They were later deported to Majdanek concentration camp where they perished. The sisters went to Bordeaux and in June 1940 they fled to Avignon, and in 1942 they received affidavits to go to Portugal, but they were thrown out. While in Avignon, Estera had appendicitis, and her doctor issued a certificate that stated she could not be moved. The French Gendarme came for them, and their landlady attempted to save the sisters. Estera presented her certificate, and the village Doctor was called in. The doctor was working for the underground and directed them to the hospital where Estera could stay while Rose hid on a farm. Rose was hiding on the farm with another girl, Esther Sapir, whose father made arrangements with a “Nazi sympathetic” to take them all to Perpignan. They left Avignon for Perpignan on 26 August 1942. After their arrival there, they hid for six days and the smuggler made plans to take them to Spain. They were then caught by the Gendarme and Rose and Estera were arrested. The sisters were sent to Camp Rivesaltes in October and month later transferred to Camp de Gurs. In Gurs, Edith had to help compile deportation lists. The sisters were liberated from Gurs in April 1943. They went to Bollène, where they stayed until August 1944. Their new landlady had helped secure their release and guaranteed support. The sisters were then liberated by the United States Army and went to Marseilles. In 1946, Rose and Estera immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Vulcania. The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Roza Margolis (later Rose Abrams) and her sister Estera Margolis (later Edith Adlam), both of whom grew up in Łódź, Poland. Included are two postcards written by Roza and Estera to relatives in the United States, 1944-1945; a postcard received by the same relatives by Roza’s uncle, Zundel Bagielman, writing from the Łódź ghetto, 1940; and a certificate issued to Roza upon her release from Camp de Gurs, France in April 1943.