Stamp booklet with canceled Republic of China postage stamps
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm) | Width: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm)
Creator(s)
- Rudolf Abraham (Subject)
Biographical History
Rudolf Abraham was born in 1908 in Durboslar, Germany, to Marcus and Bertha Kaufmann Abraham. Marcus owned a successful butcher shop. In 1933, the Nazi regime came to power in Germany. Jewish businesses were boycotted and anti-Jewish legislation was passed to persecute the Jewish populace. Some family members were able to flee the country, but Rudolf was unable to obtain a visa. During the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, Rudolf was arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His family was able to get him released in December, on the condition that he leave Germany. Rudolf stayed in Cologne and worked with a travel agency to obtain passage to Shanghai, China. While in Shanghai, he worked as a butcher. Rudolf managed to obtain a visa for the United States, where he arrived in August 1940. He moved to New York to join his cousin, Siegfried Abraham, who had immigrated to the US in 1936. Soon after his arrival, he met and married Meta Goldman. Rudolf, 97, passed away in 2003.
Archival History
The postage stamp album was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1996 by Rudolf Abraham.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rudolf Abraham and family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Booklet filled with 216 canceled Republic of China postage stamps that belonged to Rudolf Abraham. After the Nazi regime took power in Germany in 1933, laws were passed to persecute the Jewish population. The family butcher shop struggled when Jewish businesses were boycotted and Jews were forbidden from practicing certain trades. Rudolf was arrested during Kristallnacht in November 1938. His family got him released in December, but he had to leave the country. Rudolf left for Shanghai, China, and in August 1940, he reached the United States.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Red paper booklet bound with a metal prong fastener with 18 pages with 16 preprinted squares in 3 rows of 4 on which to attach stamps. Sixteen pages have a canceled Republic of China stamp attached by nonadhesive tape in each square, except for 3 stamps which are not canceled.
back inside cover, pencil : 0 / T2
Subjects
- Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object