Eva Rindner papers
Extent and Medium
folders
oversize folder
5
1
Creator(s)
- Eva Rindner
Biographical History
Eva Rindner was born Eva Schutzmann on 5 June 1928 in Vienna, Austria to Lola and Herbert Schutzmann (1890-1937). Her mother Lola (née Zipser, later Blonder, 1894-1998) was born on 21 May 1894 in Vienna to Regina (née Losch, 1865-1950) and Joseph Zipser (1860-1925). Both her parents had immigrated to Vienna from Galicia (present-day Lviv and Kolomyya, Ukraine). Lola had 4 siblings: Hedwig (1905-1973, Felix (1897-1984), Julian (1893-1960), and another sister who died very young. Eva had one brother, Robert (b. 1924). Her father was a lawyer and active Zionist. Her mother Lola was a voluntary nurse during World War I, and continued in that field after the war. Eva was infected with tuberculosis at age two, and spent several years in a hospital in Switzerland. She learned to walk with the aid of braces in July 1935, and returned home to her family in Vienna in 1936. Her father died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1937. After the German annexation of Austria (Anschluss) in March 1938, the family apartment was occupied by a Nazi lawyer. Eva and her family were forced to live in a side room. Most of their possessions were seized and the family was eventually forced out. Lola’s brother Felix was arrested in May 1938 and deported to Dachau and then Buchenwald in September 1938. He was released in February 1939. Her other brother Julian was arrested shortly after the Anschluss. Her sister Hedwig immigrated to the United States around this time. Lola managed to secure travel visas to Palestine, and she and her children sailed out of Trieste, Italy and arrived in Haifa in July 1938. Eva’s brother attended a maritime college and she attended school. Lola’s brother Julian joined them in September 1938. Felix, his wife, and Lola’s mother also made it to Palestine. Eva met a fellow Austrian refugee, Sigmund Blonder (1887-1949), who was a jeweler and he taught her how to repair watches. They ran a business out of the family apartment. Lola and Sigmund married in 1948. In Haifa, Lola trained to be a beautician. Eva joined the Israeli Air Force, where she met Wilhelm Rindner (nicknamed Willi, 1923-2005), whom she would eventually marry. Eva and Willi immigrated to the United States in 1958, and settled in Lexington, Massachusetts. Lola joined them the same year, and later in life became a poet and writer.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Eva Rindner.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of documents, a personal narrative, and photographs primarily documenting the Holocaust-era experiences of Eva Rindner (née Schultzmann) and her mother Lola Blonder (previously Lola Zipser and Lola Schutzmann), including Eva’s treatment for tuberculosis as a child, her father’s death in 1937, and the family’s emigration from Vienna, Austria to Haifa, Palestine (Haifa, Israel) in 1938. Included are documents related to Lola’s work as a volunteer nurse during World War I, financial documents, and letters. The letters were addressed to Eva from her parents, and were received while she was at a summer camp in 1937. Her father Herbert died on 23 August 1937, and at least one letter from him was likely authored after his death by someone else in order for her not to know about his passing until she could be told in person. Also included is a personal narrative authored by Eva describing her family history, emigration from Vienna to Haifa in 1938, and her service in the Israeli Air Force. The photographs depict Lola and her relatives in the Zipser family, including her mother Regina and brothers Julian and Felix. There are also several photographs depicting Eva as a young child in a sanatorium in Switzerland recovering from tuberculosis and learning how to walk with leg bracers. Other images depict the family in Vienna and Haifa.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as a single series. 1 of 5. Documents and correspondence, 1916-1938 OS 1. Documents and correspondence, 1916-1938 2 of 5. Personal narrative, circa 2004 3 of 5. Photographs: Schutzmann family, 1931-1955, undated 4 of 5. Photographs: Zipser family, 1895-1928, undated 5 of 5. Photograph album pages, 1926-1931
People
- Blonder, Lola.
- Schutzmann, Herbert, 1890-1937.
- Schutzmann, Robert.
- Rindner, Eva.
- Zipser, Julian.
- Zipser, Felix.
- Zipser, Regina.
Subjects
- Sanatoriums--Switzerland--1930-1940.
- Vienna (Austria)
- Jews--Austria--Vienna.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Austria--Personal narratives.
- Haifa (Israel)
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Refugees--Palestine--1940-1950.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Correspondence.
- Document
- Memoirs.