Rosenwald, Block, and Kupferschlag families papers
Extent and Medium
boxes
oversize box
2
1
Creator(s)
- Kupferschlag family
- Block family
- Rosenwald family
Biographical History
Fritz (Fred) Rosenwald (1907-1977) was born in Bünde, Germany to cigar factory owner Bendix Rosenwald (1862-1919) and Emma Weinberg Rosenwald (1869-1953) who lost their business under the National Socialist government. He immigrated to the United States in 1935 with the help of his father's cousins, William Rosenwald and Sophie Rosenwald Adler, son and sister respectively of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. part-owner, Julius Rosenwald. His mother immigrated in 1936, and his siblings Bertha, Hilde, and Käthe immigrated around the same time. Physician Gertrude Rosenwald (nee Gertrud Block) (1910-1960) immigrated from Westerkappeln in 1937 and married Fritz in Chicago shortly after. Fritz became an American citizen in December 1941 and Gertude in 1943. During the war, the couple worked to aid the immigrations of Fritz's aunt and uncle, Anna and Sally Kupferschlag via England, Gertrude's parents, Feodor and Bernhardine Block, and Gertrude's sister and her family, Hilde, Ewald, and Dan Rosenthal via Holland. Bernhardine Block died at Auschwitz in 1944. Gertrude's relatives from Cologne, Joseph and Adele Harth and Ida Block, died in Łódź in 1942-1943.
Fritz (Fred) Rosenwald (1907-1977) was born in Bünde, Germany to cigar factory owner Bendix Rosenwald (1862-1919) and Emma Weinberg Rosenwald (1869-1953) who lost their business under the National Socialist government. He immigrated to the United States in 1935 with the help of his father's cousins, William Rosenwald and Sophie Rosenwald Adler, son and sister respectively of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. part-owner, Julius Rosenwald. His mother immigrated in 1936, and his siblings Bertha, Hilde, and Käthe immigrated around the same time. Physician Gertrude Rosenwald (nee Gertrud Block) (1910-1960) immigrated from Westerkappeln in 1937 and married Fritz in Chicago shortly after. Fritz became an American citizen in December 1941 and Gertude in 1943. During the war, the couple worked to aid the immigrations of Fritz's aunt and uncle, Anna and Sally Kupferschlag via England, Gertrude's parents, Feodor and Bernhardine Block, and Gertrude's sister and her family, Hilde, Ewald, and Dan Rosenthal via Holland. Bernhardine Block died at Auschwitz in 1944. Gertrude's relatives from Cologne, Joseph and Adele Harth and Ida Block, died in Łódź in 1942-1943.
Fritz (Fred) Rosenwald (1907-1977) was born in Bünde, Germany to cigar factory owner Bendix Rosenwald (1862-1919) and Emma Weinberg Rosenwald (1869-1953) who lost their business under the National Socialist government. He immigrated to the United States in 1935 with the help of his father's cousins, William Rosenwald and Sophie Rosenwald Adler, son and sister respectively of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. part-owner, Julius Rosenwald. His mother immigrated in 1936, and his siblings Bertha, Hilde, and Käthe immigrated around the same time. Physician Gertrude Rosenwald (nee Gertrud Block) (1910-1960) immigrated from Westerkappeln in 1937 and married Fritz in Chicago shortly after. Fritz became an American citizen in December 1941 and Gertude in 1943. During the war, the couple worked to aid the immigrations of Fritz's aunt and uncle, Anna and Sally Kupferschlag via England, Gertrude's parents, Feodor and Bernhardine Block, and Gertrude's sister and her family, Hilde, Ewald, and Dan Rosenthal via Holland. Bernhardine Block died at Auschwitz in 1944. Gertrude's relatives from Cologne, Joseph and Adele Harth and Ida Block, died in Łódź in 1942-1943.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received this collection from Robert and Jeanne Rosenwald on September 17, 1999.
Scope and Content
The Rosenwald, Block, and Kupferschlag families papers measure 1.3 linear feet and date from 1755 to 1959. They are comprised of biographical materials, immigration records, and ancestral records. The collection documents the lives of Fritz and Gertrude Rosenwald, their Rosenwald, Block, and Kupferschlag relatives, the families’ efforts to immigrate to the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and the Kupferschlag ancestors. Biographical materials date from 1876-1959 and primarily document the pre-war lives of Fritz and Gertrude Rosenwald and the early lives of Fritz’s parents, Bendix and Emma Rosenwald, but additional records relate to Hilde Rosenwald, Isaak and Simon Weinberg, and other Weinberg relatives. Documents include birth announcements and certificates, student records, engagement announcements, marriage certificates, military records, passports, professional licenses, death announcements, and funeral speeches. Immigration records date from 1933-1944 and document Fritz and Gertrude Rosenwalds’ immigrations to the United States in 1935 and 1937 and their efforts on behalf of Anna and Sally Kupferschlag, Feodor and Bernhardine Block, Hilde, Ewald, and Dan Rosenthal, Joseph and Adele Harth, and Ida Block. Records include correspondence, affidavits, naturalization certificates, and records regarding the confiscation of the Rosenwalds’ radio and camera. Kupferschlag ancestral records are primarily comprised of handwritten manuscripts in German and Hebrew dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Documents include correspondence, military, travel, and financial records, genealogical information from circa 1910, and a family tree. Names featured in the documents include Hesse Salomon and Hesse Leiser Kupferschlag. The family tree includes the families of Joseph Goldschmied, Abraham Goldschmied, Hesse Leiser Kupferschlag (b. 1750), Hesse Leiser Kupferschlag (b. 1795), and Josef Kupferschlag. The families lived in Malsburg, Bühne, Herlinghausen, Hörde, Warburg, and Kassel.
System of Arrangement
The Rosenwald, Block, and Kupferschlag family papers are arranged as 3 series: I. Biographical Materials, 1876-1959, II. Immigration, 1933-1944, and III. Kupferschlag Ancestral Records, 18th-20th century
Subjects
- Cigar makers--Germany.
- Jewish property--Germany.
- Jews--Germany--History--18th century.
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Jewish refugees--Germany.
- Holocaust victims' families.
- Jews--Germany--History--19th century.
Genre
- Document