Pressel family collection
Acquisition
THe collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 and 2019 by Philip Pressel.
Scope and Content
Consists of letters and documents related to the Holocaust experiences of the family of Joseph and Miriam Pressel, who, with son Philip, were originally of Belgium, and the experiences of their immediate and extended families. The Pressels fled Belgium for France in 1939 and survived the war in Marseille, Lyon, and Paris. Includes wartime letters from the Pressels to Eli Schwerner, an uncle of Miriam in New York, requesting help to escape. Also includes similar wartime letters to Susi Pantzer, niece of Joseph Pressel, who lived in London, as well as letters to and from other family members. Most of the letters are translated into English and printed in a book, "They are Still Alive" by Philip Pressel, which is included in the collection. Includes post-war letters, including one in which the family writes to Eli to let him know they have survived; an oral history interview with Miriam Pressel Groner and notes and work done by Joseph Pressel who, after the war, developed a system of Hebrew shorthand. The collection also includes four bound volumes of adventure stories, published as "Le Chasseur de Fauvre" by Arnould Galopin, which were read by Philip Pressel while in hiding, another children's book given to him in hiding, and seven phonographic records. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Genre
- Collection