Magda Goldschmidts papper
- Papers of Magda Goldschmidt
Extent and Medium
0.2 linear metres (2 boxes)
Biographical History
Magda Goldschmidt was born in Berlin on 13 January 1938. Her mother, Else Rosenthal, was unable to care for her child and thus left her at the orphanage when she was only 3 months old. In spring 1939, the management of the orphanage organised the emigration of the children. The Swedish branch of WIZO was involved in Magda’s transfer to Swedish foster parents, who adopted her in 1941. In 1961 Magda met her future husband, Bent Goldschmidt from Copenhagen. They were married in 1963 and settled in Copenhagen.
Archival History
The collection consists of Magda Goldschmidts personal documents.
Acquisition
The collection was donated to the Jewish Museum in Stockholm in 2019 by Magda Goldschmidt.
Scope and Content
The collection contains documents relating to Magda Goldschmidt’s personal life, particularly her early life and emigration to Sweden, where a Swedish-Jewish family in Stockholm adopted her. Among the documents is an envelope containing correspondence between Dr Mendelsohn at the orphanage in Berlin where she was living and her future adoptive mother. In another envelope is correspondence between Dr Mendelsohn and both adoptive parents in Stockholm, Israel and Betzy Goldschmidt, from 23 January 1939 to 21 June 1939, about the preparation of Magda’s journey to Sweden. In the envelope, there are also Swedish coupons for food from when food was rationed during the Second World War. There are also copies of the correspondence in a separate folder. There is also correspondence dating much later between Magda Goldschmidt and the Swedish historian Ingrid Lomfors and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, respectively.
Magda Goldschmidt’s German ID card is preserved from her first year in Berlin. There is also the adoption application, where the Goldschmidts write that they have had the girl (Magda) in their home since she was very little and that they have become very fond of her. Attached to the application are certificates and a letter in which the biological mother states her approval of the adoption. There is also a certificate from the Swedish Ministry of Justice stating that Magda received Swedish citizenship in 1941 and a document from 1944 declaring that her middle name, Sara, given by the German authorities, had been replaced with the name Gittel. Among the documents is also Magda Goldschmidts life story, 17 pages, written by herself in 2019.
In the collection, there are also 15 issues (January 1963-1965) of the rare Swedish-Jewish periodical Judiska Hem, of which her adoptive father, Israel Goldschmidt, was the editor.
Finally, the collection includes a book published by the Jewish Museum in Berlin, entitled Jüdische Zwangsarbeiter bei Ehrich & Graetz, Berlin-Treptow [Jewish forced laborers at Ehrich & Graetz]. On pages 20 and 230, there are images of Else Rosenthal, most likely Magda Goldschmidt’s biological mother, who had the same name.
Rules and Conventions
EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0