Ilse Garfunkel collection
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Ilse Garfunkel
Biographical History
Ilse Wolff Garfunkel was born in Stettin, Germany on Dec. 25, 1925, to Herman (1881-Sep. 4, 1940, Shanghai) and Lotte Berndt Wolff (Aug. 28, 1892-Aug. 28, 1945, Shanghai). In Jan. 1939, Ilse was sent to Belgium on a Kindertransport, while her parents went to Shanghai in Apr. 1939. Shortly after their arrival, her father died, possibly of a "tropical disease." Ilse lived in Brussels for over a year, then spent time in Seyre, Haute Garonne, Chateau de la Hille, and Le Vernet, before escaping to Geneva, Switzerland on Dec. 31, 1942
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Ilse Garfunkel donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives in June 2003.
Scope and Content
Consists of ten letters and three postcards written by Charlotte (Lotte) Berndt Wolff to her daughter, Ilse Wolff, between 1940-1944. Charlotte and her husband, Herman, emigrated to Shanghai in 1939, while Ilse was sent on a Kindertransport to Belgium and spent the war in various children's homes. Herman Wolff passed away in September 1940, and the collection also includes a copy of Charlotte's death certificate, listing that she passed away from typhus in August 1945 in Shanghai.
Genre
- Letters.
- Document
- Postcards.
- Death certificates.