Ursula Klau papers

The Ursula Klau papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, estate, reparations, and restitution records, photographic materials, song lyrics, a calendar, and two prayer books. The records document Ursula Klau’s family; their experiences in Nazi Germany, Nazi-occupied Netherlands, the Westerbork transit camp, the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and the so-called “Lost Transport”; and Klau’s liberation and recuperation in Davos, Switzerland, immigration to the United States, and efforts to liquidate and distribute her parents’ estate and to receive restitution and reparations for her family’s experiences. Biographical materials include identity papers, birth and death certificates, immigration records, health records, American Chamber of Commerce records, a Displaced Person registration card and a membership card for the Association of Former Prisoners of Concentration Camps in Germany, records regarding citizenship status, and letters to the New York Times and New York Sun describing Ursula’s story. Correspondence includes letters among Ursula, Helga, Oscar, and Therese Klau, Helga and Ursula’s aunt Margaret (Grettchen), Adolf (Adi) and Ruth Elkeles, and Miriam Wareburg, a friend of Ursula’s from Davos. Correspondence from 1939 and 1941 documents the Klaus’ lives in Amsterdam and their efforts to emigrate. Correspondence from 1945 and 1946 describes Helga and Ursula’s wartime and postwar experiences, efforts to move Klau to a sanatorium in Switzerland, their desire to join their remaining family members in the United States, and Klau’s arrival in New York. Letters from Miriam Wareburg document Klau’s time at the sanatorium. Records regarding the Estate of Oscar and Therese Klau document Ursula and Helga Klau’s and Adolf Elkeles’ efforts to liquidate and distribute the Estate’s assets including a life insurance policy, bank accounts, securities, and a trust, as well as expenses incurred by Elkeles acting as Klau’s guardian. Records include court documents, correspondence, forms, bills, accounting and tax records, and the Klaus’ last will and testament. Correspondence, forms, and bank records document Ursula Klau’s efforts to obtain reparations and restitution through German Federal Compensation Laws, the Foundation for Governmental Maror Funds, Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation regarding Swiss banks, and other programs in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Photographic prints and three photo albums document Ursula Klau and her family and friends. Photographs depict Klau’s family starting around 1893, pre-war life in Frankfurt and Amsterdam, trips to Paris and Winterthur, Switzerland, Klau’s recuperation in Davos, her life in New York, the Bergen-Belsen Memorial, and the memorials in Tröbitz commemorating the victims of the “Lost Transport.” The Ursula Klau papers also include lyrics to songs such as “Kaddish,” “Treblinka,” “O, Buchenwald,” “Im Thüringerland,” “Mein Schtetele Belz,” “Oi es is ois Malchume,” “Mir kommen an,” “Ach mein Ghettole,“ “Mir senen Koimenkerers,” “Keidankis Keiten,” “Es brennt,” and “Es is a schener warmer Tug.”

The Ursula Klau papers are arranged as six series: I. Biographical materials, approximately 1867, 1935-1950, 1956-1958, II. Correspondence, 1939-1946 III. Klau estate, 1942-1960, IV. Reparations and restitution, 1950-1962, 1972-2006, V. Photographic materials, approximately 1893-1990s, VI.Songs, circa 1939-1946