Josef Helfgott papers

Consists of photographs, restitution-related claims, a business card, newspaper clippings, and photocopies pertaining to the experiences of Josef Helfgott, a Holocaust survivor from Tomaszow Mazowiecki. Among other items, the collection includes a photograph of Josef's wife, Dwora, that he kept with him throughout his internment at various concentration camps, including Auscwhitz. Dwora, and the couple's daughter, Chana, were deported from Tomaszow to Treblinka in 1942 where they were killed. Other documents in the collection concern Josef's extended family as several siblings had immigrated to the United States in the interwar period and settled in New York. Josef Helfgott was born September 9, 1910 to Aron and Ruza Helfgott in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. In January 1940, Josef Helfgott, a carpenter, his wife, Dwora (Rubin) Helfgott, and their daughter, Chana, were confined in the Ghetto in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. Dwora and Chana were deported to Treblinka where they were murdered in 1942. Apparently, Josef remained in the ghetto somewhat longer, but had been deported to KL Blizin by May 1942. He was subsequently imprisoned at Auschwitz, Melk, and Ebensee, from which Josef was liberated in May 1945. He lived in Hannover from July 1945 until October 1950. Josef Helfgott sailed from Bremerhaven to New York and arrived in New York on November 25, 1950. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on February 28, 1956. He died in 1986. No restrictions on access