Alice Samson collection
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Alice Samson
Biographical History
Alice Samson (1926-2010) was born in Edesheim, Germany, the daughter of Karl Samson (1875-1940) and Anna (nee Beissinger) Samson (1890-1942?), and had two stepsisters (Gertrud, and Else, 1910-1942?) and one brother (Kurt, 1925-1941?). In 1939, after Alice and her family had been taken from their home by the Gestapo and sent to a collection point in Karlsruhe, Alice was smuggled to France, where she lived in the care of the Quakers at the La Guette children's home in France. Her parents and stepsisters were sent first to Drancy and then to Gurs, where her father died in December 1940. Alice was able to visit her mother and stepsister in March 1941. In 1941, Alice emigrated to the United States as part of a transport of children sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. Her mother and stepsister Else, however, were deported to Auschwitz in August 1942, where they were subsequently killed. Her brother, Kurt, was deported to Minsk, where he was presumed to have been killed.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Leah Hammer
Leah Hammer donated the Alice Samson collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in August 2011. Alice Samson came to live with her family after arriving in the United States.
Scope and Content
Consists of original and digital documents and photographs related to the life of Suse Lore Alice Samson (later known as Alice Samson), originally of Edesheim, Germany. Includes Alice's written testimony, copies of documents and photographs, and correspondence regarding her attempts to find out the fates of her family and restitution for lost property. Includes correspondence with the International Tracing Service, the Red Cross, and various attorneys, the latter including both personal compensation claims and the class-action suit against the French national railway, the SNCF.
People
- Samson, Karl (1875-1940)
- Samson, Ann (1890-1942)
- Samson, Else (1910-1942)
Corporate Bodies
- American Friends Service Committee
- United States Committee for the Care of European Children
Subjects
- Gurs (Concentration camp)
- Société nationale des chemins de fer français--Trials, litigation, etc.
- Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Holocaust survivors--Claims.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Reparations.
- Jews--Persecutions--Germany--Rhineland-Palatinate.
Genre
- Document