Herbert Siperstein papers

Herbert Siperstein was born in Vienna in 1923 to Moszka Siperstein (1884-1951) and Josefine Pick Siperstein (1896-1942). He emigrated to Palestine in March 1939 with the Youth Aliyah, changed his name to Igal Sapir, and married Miriam Sapir. Moszka Siperstein was detained in Vienna by the Germans, and Josefine Siperstein tried to immigrate to the United States via Cuba aboard the M.S. St. Louis in May 1939 with her mother, Elisabeth (Elise) Pick. When the ship was returned to Europe, Siperstein and Pick disembarked in France and settled in Mirabeau. Pick’s other daughter, Helen Grossman, had immigrated to the United States in 1938 or 1939 with her husband, Otto Grossman, and tried to help her mother and sister reach America. Elise Pick immigrated in 1940, but Josefine Siperstein was trapped in France, interned in 1942, and deported via Drancy to Auschwitz where she was killed. Moszka Siperstein survived the war in Austria and joined his son in Israel in 1950. The Herbert Siperstein papers consist of correspondence and photographs documenting the Pick family from Vienna, Josefine Siperstein and Elise Pick’s unsuccessful effort to emigrate aboard the S.S. St. Louis, family members’ efforts to help them immigrate to the United States, and efforts to locate Josefine Siperstein after her death at Auschwitz. Correspondence includes letters to Herbert Siperstein from his mother aboard the S.S. St. Louis and then settled in Mirabeau, correspondence with the U.S. State Department and refugee aid agencies, a carbon copy of a letter from Helen Grossman to President Roosevelt pleading her mother and sister’s case, and notices from the French police regarding travel permission and lack of travel permits. Photographs include Herbert Siperstein’s passport photograph, a picture of Elise Pick with her daughters Josefine Siperstein and Helen Grossman in Vienna, and a picture of Josefine Siperstein in Mirabeau, France.