Wertheimer family papers

This collection primarily documents the wartime experiences of Richard Wertheimer and Klara (Deutsch) Wertheimer of Vienna, Austria securing passage to Havana, Cuba and joining their daughter Greta in New York between 1941 to 1942. The collection also documents the Wertheimer family’s life in Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s, including Greta Wertheimer’s report cards and Richard Wertheimer’s license to practice law. This collection includes wartime correspondence between members of the Wertheimer family, records of Richard Wertheimer, Klara Wertheimer, and Klara’s mother Johanna Deutsch’s experience as refugees in Havana in 1942, and Richard Wertheimer’s 1948 U.S. naturalization records. Greta Stanton née Wertheimer (1919-2011) lived with her parents Richard (1882-1954) and Klara Deutsch Wertheimer (b. 1891) and her maternal grandmother Johanna Deutsch (1863-1942) in Vienna, Austria until 1939. Her maternal grandfather, Ferdinand Deutsch (1850-1921), had also lived in Vienna. In March 1938, when her father’s office was aryanized, Greta Wertheimer began privately teaching English and translating letters. In August 1939, Greta Wertheimer fled Vienna by way of Liverpool; she boarded the SS Samaria on August 14, 1939 and arrived in the United States on September 5, 1939. In August 1939, Richard and Klara Wertheimer and Johanna Deutsch were ordered to leave their Vienna apartment and joined two other Jewish families in another apartment. Richard and Klara Wertheimer later received deportation orders for October 19, 1941. Two days before the deportation deadline, October 17, 1941, the Wertheimers and Johanna Deutsch fled Vienna. With the help of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien, they secured passage on the Spanish steamship SS Magellanes bound for Havana, Cuba by way of Liverpool. Richard Wertheimer, Klara Wertheimer, and Johanna Deutsch arrived in Havana on November 29, 1941. Johanna Deutsch passed away in Havana in March 1942. Richard and Klara joined their daughter Greta Wertheimer in New York City in September 1942 and became naturalized citizens of the United States. Richard Wertheimer had two sisters, Ella (Helene Ella Wertheimer Brock, 1877-circa 1942) and Klara (1879-1942). Klara Wertheimer was deported to the Lodz ghetto and Ella Brock was deported to the Riga ghetto. Neither sister survived.