Archival Context

Canada

Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre

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Online History

5 years ago

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Louise Stein Sorensen fonds

Identifier

RA024

Language of Description

English

Level of Description

Collection

Languages

Dutch
English

Source

EHRI Partner

Web Source

http://www.louisesteinsorensen.com/

http://www.louisesteinsorensen.com/2017/01/16/my-long-bio/

https://www.holocaustcenter.org/sorensen-louise-stein

https://globalnews.ca/news/1111273/international-holocaust-remembrance-day-story-of-a-survivor-living-in-b-c/

Related materials:

Gesher project exhibition

Out of the Archives exhibit

CMHR exhibit

Louise Sorensen testimony

http://www.vhec.org/images/pdfs/Zachor_Winter2014.pdf

Extent and Medium

28 documents37 photographs13 artefacts

Creator(s)

Louise Stein Sorensen

Biographical History

Louise Stein Sorensen was born in Rotterdam on February 12, 1929 to Isidor Stein and Marianne (Jeanne) van Dam. Her sister, Eleonore, was born in 1923. Sorensen’s immediate family moved from Rotterdam to Amsterdam in 1936.Sorensen’s father ran a fur coat factory; the business was appropriated in 1941. In June 1942, Sorensen’s family home and all its contents were confiscated by the Nazis. After their home was expropriated, the family was moved to Amsterdam and placed in what would become the Jewish ghetto. They were temporarily protected by an exemption list, which was cancelled in January 1943. After their exemption was cancelled the family went into hiding, with help from a non-Jewish relative in Hilversum who was able to help them attain forged identity cards and their first hiding addresses. At her first address, Sorensen used the false name Loes van Boven. She was separated from her parents and sister and moved from home to home around the Netherlands. Sorensen had help from members of the resistance.Sorensen and her parents were reunited in the fall of 1943 and hidden by a farmworker and his wife in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. They stayed inside in an attic every day until mid-April 1945 when Canadian soldiers liberated the area. While Sorensen’s parents and sister survived, they later found out through the Red Cross that nearly all of their extended family had been murdered in Sobibor, Auschwitz and in Minsk and Transylvania.Louise Stein Sorensen graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a degree in Social Psychology in 1956. She married Eigil (Ike) Kaergaard Sorensen in her home town in January 1959. Shortly thereafter, she moved to British Columbia with her husband, a Danish immigrant who already resided there. They had two sons and three grandsons. Sorensen has been an outreach speaker for the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre since 1985 and was a VHEC board member for ten years. Additionally, she was a member of the Gesher Project, a group of survivors and children of survivors who met regularly to create painting, writing and discussion about the Holocaust. Sorensen is a founding member of the VHEC’s child survivor group and a member of the board of the World Federation of Child Survivors of the Holocaust.

Archival History

Records were in the custody of Louise Sorensen prior to their donation to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

Acquisition

Records were donated by Sorensen in 1999, 2004, 2014, and 2019.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of textual records, graphic materials, and artefacts relating to Louise Sorensen’s life in the Netherlands, some of which was spent in hiding. Many of the items are wartime records, including photographs and negatives, correspondence, paper currency, drawings, notice of registration, official and forged identity cards, and ration cards. Additionally, the fonds contains copies of Sorensen’s great-uncle’s daughter’s, Ans’, testimonies; several English translations of items provided by Sorensen; and a 1947 second edition of Anne Frank’s Het Achterhuis, or The Diary of a Young Girl, also known as the Diary of Anne Frank. The fonds has been arranged by the archivist into the following six series: Personal records, Family records, Photographs, Correspondence, Currency and Publications and writings.

Accruals

Further accruals are expected.

System of Arrangement

Arrangement of the items into series provided by the archivist. Items within each series have been arranged chronologically by the archivist according to the date of creation of the original item. Fonds has been described to the item level. Fonds arranged and described in July 2019 by Ally Bebbling.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Numerous items in the fonds exhibit signs of aging, storage, and handling. This is evident through the visible effects of airborne, transferred, and intrinsic pollutants.

Finding Aids

Item list is available.https://collections.vhec.org/Detail/collections/634

Archivist Note

Fonds arranged and described in July 2019 by Ally Bebbling. Revised in August 2019 to incorporate feedback from Louise Stein Sorensen.

Sources

Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre

Subjects

Labour
Education
Communications
Children and youth
Family and personal life
Cultural groups

Genre

Graphic material
Textual record

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.

Child Items

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Language of Description
1. English (6)
Country
1. Canada (6)
Holding Institution
1. Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (6)

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Displaying items 1 to 6 of 6

Personal records
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-01
- English
- Extent of descriptive unit: 1 photocopy of an original document sent from Sorensen’s Montessori school, 1 report card from Sorensen’s Montessori school, and 3 freehand drawings done in pencil by Sorensen.
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of textual and graphic materials relating directly to Sorensen. Records include a photocopy of an original document sent from Sorensen’s Montessori school, an original report card from Sorensen’s 1942/1943 year at Montessori school, and 3 original hand drawings done in pencil. The drawings were done by Sorensen when she was around 16 years old.
Family records
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-02
- English
- Extent of descriptive unit: 1 photocopy of a copy of an original death announcement; 1 notice of registration from the American Consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands; 1 official identity card; 2 forged identity cards; and 2 ration cards.
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of records pertaining to several family members of Sorensen. Included is a photocopy of a copy of an original document announcing the death of Sorensen’s great-grandfather, Mozes van Dam; an original notice of registration from the American Consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands; an official identity card for Marianne Stein (née van Dam); forged identity cards used by Sorensen’s mother, Marianne Stein, and great aunt, Jansje van Dam; and original ration cards used to receive textiles and to buy food staples like potatoes, butter, bread, milk and meat.
Photographs
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-03
- English
- Extent of descriptive unit: 10 b&w negatives, 25 b&w photographs, 2 col. photographs
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of graphic materials concerning Sorensen and her family members and their experiences before, during and after the Second World War. Records include original and copied photographs and negatives. Many of the original materials remain in the custody of Sorensen or her sister, Elenore. Although some of the exact dates are unknown, the known dates of items in this series range from ca. 1921 to 2006.
Correspondence
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-04
- English
- 1940-2019
- Extent of descriptive unit: 3 postcards, 1 envelope, 5 letters, 3 emails, and 1 photocopy of a hand drawn map and key identifying individuals in a photo of Sorensen’s Jewish Montessori Lyceum in Amsterdam.
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of records generated by the correspondence between Sorensen and family members, as well as emails between Sorensen and individuals from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Records include handwritten and typed letters, postcards, and emails. The letters and postcards were primarily typewritten on a typewriter, with two postcards being handwritten. The series includes an envelope addressed to Loesje Stein.
Currency
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-05
- English
- 1938-1943
- Extent of descriptive unit: 3 pieces of paper currency
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of 3 pieces of paper currency. The pieces of currency include a 1 krone scrip from Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp, a 10 krone scrip from Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp, and a 1 Zilverbon Groot Een Gulden note.
Publications and writings
- Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
- RA024-06
- English
- Extent of descriptive unit: 1 book, 1 memoir, 14 textual records
- Updated 5 years ago
Series consists of a second edition copy of Anne Frank’s Het Achterhuis, or Diary of a Young Girl; the memoir Adolescence Lost, written by Carla Benninga; a thank you card; “Ever Stitch a Memory” notes and photo; a photocopy of a newspaper article; two photocopies regarding a Holocaust exhibition; copies of testimonies; current writings by Sorensen; and translations provided by Sorensen.