Family poses for the camera

Identifier
irn1004725
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1991.249.1
  • RG-60.1450
Dates
1 Jan 1932 - 31 Dec 1932
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Louis Sommer was born in Izbugya, Hungary and emigrated to the United States in 1899. He settled in Omaha, Nebraska where he owned a grocery business at the intersection of Dodge Street and 49th Street. Louis and his brother Harry visited their father Barnath and extended family and friends in Humenne, Slovakia in March 1932. They recorded Jewish families and businesses with a movie camera.

Bernard and Emery Klein were born in Humenné, Slovakia. They had a younger sister, Judith (b. 1933); their mother was Jacob Grossman's sister; their father, Hermann Klein, owned a kosher and non-kosher meat market, farm and brick manufacturing company in Humenné. The Germans occupied the area in 1939 and started to deport the Jews in 1941. The Klein family was not deported until 1944 because Mr. Klein was an important farming advisor. The family was sent to Auschwitz without Bernard, who had become separated. Mrs. Klein and her daughter were immediately gassed upon arrival at the camp. Bernard was reunited with his brother and father at Auschwitz a month later. The three were sent to Gleiwitz where Emery and his father worked in a factory while Bernard worked in the concentration camp kitchen. In 1945, as the Russian army advanced into the area, the camp was evacuated to Blechhammer, another camp in the vicinity. The German guards fled the camp, leaving the prisoners. A few days later, the brothers, their father and several others began walking back to Humenné. The Klein family moved to Israel, Montreal, and eventually to Detroit, Michigan. Their cousin, Ladislav Grossman, also survived; he is the author of the award-winning film, "A Shop on Main Street" (1965).

Bernard and Emery Klein were born in Humenné, Slovakia. They had a younger sister, Judith (b. 1933); their mother was Jacob Grossman's sister; their father, Hermann Klein, owned a kosher and non-kosher meat market, farm and brick manufacturing company in Humenné. The Germans occupied the area in 1939 and started to deport the Jews in 1941. The Klein family was not deported until 1944 because Mr. Klein was an important farming advisor. The family was sent to Auschwitz without Bernard, who had become separated. Mrs. Klein and her daughter were immediately gassed upon arrival at the camp. Bernard was reunited with his brother and father at Auschwitz a month later. The three were sent to Gleiwitz where Emery and his father worked in a factory while Bernard worked in the concentration camp kitchen. In 1945, as the Russian army advanced into the area, the camp was evacuated to Blechhammer, another camp in the vicinity. The German guards fled the camp, leaving the prisoners. A few days later, the brothers, their father and several others began walking back to Humenné. The Klein family moved to Israel, Montreal, and eventually to Detroit, Michigan. Their cousin, Ladislav Grossman, also survived; he is the author of the award-winning film, "A Shop on Main Street" (1965).

Scope and Content

Reel 1. Multiple sequences showing the entire family (including the visiting Louis and Harry Sommer, Hermann Klein, and Jacob Grossman) posing for the camera, probably in Humenne, Slovakia. Family members (well-dressed) take turns walking towards the camera in a street/alley. Dark shots in a field. Man holds up his pocketwatch. More posed shots around an automobile. 00:03:50 The children play near a home. 00:04:52 Family at the farm, landscape, herding sheep. More portraits. Children blow kisses, wave, and try to feed the animals. The family continue to take turns for posed shots.

Note(s)

Subjects

Places

Genre

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.