Hans Steinitz papers

Hans J. Steinitz left Germany for France in 1934, after Hitler's rise to power. He served briefly in the French army, but was arrested by the French police and imprisoned in Gurs concentration camp after France's surrender to Germany. He was imprisoned in Gurs from October 1940 through the summer of 1942, where he kept a diary. In 1942 he was transferred to Les Milles concentration camp. He escaped from Les Milles during Yom Kippur in 1942, taking his diary with him. Hans soon obtained false paperwork and made his way to Switzerland. He married Lore Oppenheimer (b.1915) and they had a daughter, Lucy. The Hans Steinitz papers include a diary written by Hans Steinitz from 1940 to 1942 during his time in the Gurs and Les Milles concentration camps in France. He typed the diary on a small typewriter that he smuggled into the camps and made entries while working in the administration offices of the camps. This collection also includes a Reisepass (German passport) issued to Lore Oppenheimer, Hans' wife.