Weiss family papers
Extent and Medium
folders
oversize folder
7
1
Creator(s)
- Weiss family
Biographical History
Zygfryd (later Stephen) Weiss (1904-1988) was born in Bielsko, Poland and worked as an engineer. In 1932 he married Stefania Marta (later Greta) (Zelaznik) Weiss (1908-2002), a seamstress and designer. Their daughter, Ruth, was born in 1935 in Kraków, Poland. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the family fled from Bielsko to the Soviet Union. In 1940, they were deported to Siberia and imprisoned in Yakutsk. They were temporarily released, but were recaptured shortly after in Uzbekistan. After the war they returned to Poland in 1946. Frederick Weiss, Zygfyd’s bother, arranged for Zygfryd, Stefania, and Ruth’s immigration to the United Stated through Sweden in 1947.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
Ruth (Weiss) Hohberg donated the Weiss family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001.
Scope and Content
The Weiss family papers include biographical material, correspondence, immigration material, and school and professional material relating to Zygfryd, Stefania, and Ruth Weiss’ life in Poland before fleeing to the Soviet Union in 1939, imprisonment in Yakutsk, and immigration to the United Stated in 1947. The collection also includes a diary kept by Ruth from 1944-1945 while in Uzbekistan. Biographical materials include a military book, Polish ID card, and temporary ID card for Zygfryd as well as a Polish ID card and temporary ID card for Stefania. Emigration and immigration material includes correspondence, certification of citizenship, and affidavits from Frederick Weiss in preparation for the Weiss family’s immigration to the United States. School and professional material includes report cards, certificates, letters of employment, and resumes for Zygfryd. Correspondence includes wartime letters from Fred Weiss and Markus (Mark) Lindenbaum, believed to be a family friend living in New York, about daily life and the struggles the family is facing as well as other personal correspondence The diary was written by Ruth while in Uzbekistan and contains daily entries from 1944-1945, including reference to V-Day.
System of Arrangement
The Weiss family papers are arranged as single series.
People
- Weiss, Zygfryd.
- Weiss, Ruth.
- Weiss, Stefania Maria.
- Lindenbaum, Markus.
- Weiss, Fredrick.
Corporate Bodies
- Yakutsk (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Bielsko (Poland)
- Jewish families--Poland.
- World War, 1939-1945.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--History.
- Kraków (Poland)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939‐1945)
- Forced labor--Soviet Union.
- Uzbekistan.
- Siberia (Russia)
Genre
- Diaries.
- Passports.
- Document
- Correspondence.