Hans Finke was born on August 12, 1920, in Berlin, Germany. His father, Julius Finke (1882-1943), was a merchant from Petrzkowitz, Poland (Pietrzkowice, Poland); his mother died when he was an infant. His father married Ella in 1922. Hans’s half-sister, Ursula, was born on June 30, 1923. They were not a strictly observant Jewish family though they attended a liberal synagogue and participated in the ...

Elzbieta Lusthaus was born on May 15, 1938, in Krakow, Poland to Edmund and Helena (Amkraut) Lusthaus. Edmund was born in Brzozow on August 2, 1899, and attended medical school at Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov. Helena was born in Przemysl on June 8, 1911, but grew up in Sanok and worked as an assistant pharmacist. Edmund and Helena married on May 17, 1936, and settled in the resort town of Iwonicz. ...

The Jewish Community of Berlin-According to a census of June 16, 1933, the Jewish population of Berlin, Germany's capital city, was about 160,000. Berlin's Jewish community was the largest in Germany, comprising more than 32 percent of all Jews in the country. In the face of Nazi persecution, many Jews emigrated from Berlin. Berlin's Jewish population fell to about 80,000 people as a result of emigration ...

Julien Hequembourg Bryan (1899-1974) was an American documentarian and filmmaker. Bryan traveled widely taking 35mm film that he sold to motion picture companies. In the 1930s, he conducted extensive lecture tours, during which he showed film footage he shot in the former USSR. Between 1935 and 1938, he captured unique records of ordinary people and life in Nazi Germany and in Poland, including Jewish ...

Rudolf Fellner (1913-2011) was born in Vienna, Austria to Eugen (1888-1942) and Stefanie (née Sohr, 1887-1974) Fellner. Eugen grew up in Vienna, and worked as an entertainer, singer, and magician for many years. He married Stefanie in 1912, and then worked in his father-in-law’s knitting and garment store. Rudolf was an only child, but spent a lot of time with his cousin, Fred Freiwirth, whose mother ...

This collection has been placed in the permanent care, custody, and control of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) by the donors of the collection. Questions concerning rights to use or publish materials from the collection should be addressed to the Executive Director of the AJA. For more information, see the American Jewish Archives copyright information webpage.

Alice Redlich was born August 12, 1920, in Berlin, Germany, to Georg and Ella Messer Redlich. Georg, born on August 8, 1884, was a salesman and World War I veteran from Schlabendorf, Germany. Ella was born on April 9, 1893, in Berlin. Alice's brother Heinz Alfred was born on June 9, 1923. The family considered themselves Germans who were Jewish. They celebrated high holidays, irregularly attended synagogue, ...

Chaim Kozienicki was born June 16, 1928 in Łódź, Poland, to Chaja Sura, born in 1900, and Szulem, born 1889. He had one brother, Ezra Zeli, born August 24, 1925. When the Germans occupied Łódź in 1939, Jewish men were especially subject to persecution and capture for forced labor, so Chaim’s father fled to Brzeziny and Warsaw. When he returned after a short time, Chaim was given the task of being on ...

Uniform patch issued to Dr. Edmund Lusthaus when he served in the 2nd Polish Corps from 1941-1945. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and seventeen days later, the Soviet Army invaded from the east. Lusthaus was captured and taken to a camp for Polish prisoners of war in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where he served as a physician. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Polish POWs were released ...

Dog tag with his name, birth date and place, and blood type issued to Dr. Edmund Lusthaus, a medical officer in the 2nd Polish Corps, a unit of the British Armed Forces during World War II. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and seventeen days later, the Soviet Army invaded from the east. Lusthaus was captured and taken to a camp for Polish prisoners of war in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where ...

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Paul Rosenberg was born in Krakow, Poland, to a Jewish couple. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and occupied Krakow. At an unknown date, Paul was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp and assigned prisoner number 194446. He was eventually transferred to Gross-Rosen concentration camp and woprked as slave labor in one or more subcamps. Paul became friends with anohter inmate, Josef ...

Uniform patch with a Polish eagle on a red castle issued to Dr. Edmund Lusthaus when he served in the 2nd Polish Corps from 1941-1945. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and seventeen days later, the Soviet Army invaded from the east. Lusthaus was captured and taken to a camp for Polish prisoners of war in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where he served as a physician. When Germany invaded the Soviet ...

Decorative brown leather wallet purchased by Dr. Edmund Lusthaus in Egypt circa 1943 where he was stationed with the 2nd Polish Corps, British Army, as a medical officer. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Lusthaus was drafted into the Polish Army. Seventeen days later, the Soviet army invaded from the east. Lusthaus was captured and taken to a camp for Polish prisoners of war in Novosibirsk, ...

Kazerne Dossin Research Centre

Copyright Holder: Ms. Miriam F. Morris

Miniature teapot, sugar bowl, pitcher, teacup, and tray given to Elzbieta Lusthaus by her maternal grandmother, Sophie Lieberman Schiff, when they were living in Tarnow, Poland, which was occupied by Germany in September 1939. On June 11, 1942, the Germans came to the house searching for Jews to deport to the concentration camps. Four year old Elzbieta hid, but her grandmother was taken by the Germans ...

Copyright Holder: Ms. Miriam F. Morris

Copyright Holder: Ms. Miriam F. Morris

Suitcase given to 20-year-old Toni Klar and her parents for their departure from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to Palestine in July 1944 as part of an exchange of camp inmates for German prisoners-of-war in British custody. The suitcase was originally owned by Pauline Eisenhardt, who had perished in Theresienstadt. Toni and her parents were refugees from Germany who were deported from Amsterdam ...

Copyright Holder: Deborah Schifter

Hanna (Hannah) Henrietta Lenschitzki was born on November 6, 1922, in Halberstadt, Germany, to an Orthodox Jewish couple, Paul and Rosa Beermann Lenschitzki. Hannah had a brother, Manfred, who was born on September 7, 1920, in Halberstadt. Hannah’s father Paul was born in approximately 1887 in Sandersleben. His father was Isidore Lenschitzki. Hannah’s mother Rosa was born on January 22, 1891, in Sandersleben, ...

Copyright Holder: Ms. Miriam F. Morris