David Wittner papers
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- David Wittner
Biographical History
David Wittner was investigating the fate of his mother-in-law's nephew, Abraham Weiner, who was imprisoned at Buchenwald concentration camp when he met Robert Rensch, a former prisoner in Buchenwald, who worked at the city hall in Nuremberg, Germany. Wittner found out that Abraham Weiner had died at Buchenwald of typhus on May 4 or 5, 1945.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Twenty of the items were given to David Wittner, an American soldier in World War II, by Robert Rensch, a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp, in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945. The newspaper clippings were found in Fannie Eagle Polkes's house. The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by David Wittner in 1992.
Scope and Content
The papers consist of 18 photographs of Buchenwald concentration camp upon liberation; an envelope with "Please! Do Not Open" written on it, Nuremberg, Germany, c.1945; a note regarding Abraham Wiener, David Wittner's mother-in-law's nephew, written by David Wittner during his meeting with Robert Rensch, a survivor of Buchenwald, in Nuremberg, Germany, c. 1945; a letter written in Yiddish to Fannie Eagle Polkes from Abraham Wiener; a foreign money order receipt issued to Nathan Eagle for ten dollars to be sent to Abraham Weiner, July 1939; and Yiddish newspaper clippings from June 24, 1939, which include Abraham Weiner's advertisement looking for relatives in the United States.
People
- Rensch, Robert.
- Weiner, Abraham.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Germany.
- Guardhouses--Germany--1940-1950.
- Barracks--Germany--1940-1950.
- Prisoners--Germany--1940-1950.
- Holocaust survivors--Germany.
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Crematoriums--Germany--1940-1950.
Genre
- Document
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Photographs.
- Letters.
- Receipts (Acknowledgments)