Daisy Grob papers
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Daisy Grob
- Blanche Goldszpiner
Biographical History
In 1939, Blanche Goldszpiner was an American working at the American Consulate in Warsaw with Dr. Waldemar J.A. Wickman. Blanche's husband Mitchell had returned to the United States in April 1939 to attend the World's Fair on business. He was supposed to return to Warsaw on September 15, 1939. After the war broke out, Blanche was asked to leave the country with the diplomatic mission, but she thought that being an American would protect her and her daughter Daisy. By the time they wanted to leave, it was too late. Because they were Jewish, Blanche and Daisy were forced in to the Warsaw Ghetto. Daisy ultimately survived in hiding. Blanche died in the Dachau concentration camp.
Daisy Grob was born Daisy Elizabeth Goldszpiner on 24 April 1931 in Warsaw, Poland to Blanche and Mitchell Goldszpiner. In 1939, Blanche was an American working at the American Consulate in Warsaw with Dr. Waldemar J.A. Wickman. Her husband Mitchell had returned to the United States in April 1939 to attend the World's Fair on business. He was supposed to return to Warsaw on 15 September 1939. After the war broke out, Blanche was asked to leave the country with the diplomatic mission, but she thought that being an American would protect her and her daughter Daisy. By the time they wanted to leave, it was too late. Because they were Jewish, Blanche and Daisy were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. Blanche placed Daisy in hiding near Warsaw in 1943, and she survived the war. Blanche was deported to the Dachau concentration camp where she perished.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Daisy Grob in 1994.
Scope and Content
The collection documents the wartime experiences of Blanche Goldszpiner, an American living and working in Warsaw during the Holocaust. Included is a photographic postcard of a seated woman; a letter written by Blanche Goldszpiner in 1940 in Warsaw, Poland, to her cousin in the United States prior her internment in the Warsaw ghetto; and an envelope addressed to "Readers Digest" from Jack Balinsky in Haifa, Israel. The letter states following: "Dear Cousin:/I wrote to you some letters by mail but I see/that they did not reach you. My father addressed to our/Medical Director in Supervisory Charge of European Activities/in Europe asking him to inform whether Daisy and I are well/and alive. Our Medical Director was kind enough to permit to/ send a letter to my father and I hope he will also be kind/enough to inform my husband that we are well. Therefore be so/kind and tell my husband that everything is O.K. for the/present and we are longing for him. Please tell him that I have/my job and that makes me happy. He does not have to worry for/us, because we get along together very nicely. We live in the/same house where he left us but we occupy only one room as the/house is very damaged and there is no central heating. I have/put a stove in to this room that we are using and with great/difficulties we get coal and make our room comfortable and warm./The cost of living is very high here. We have nice friends in/Warsaw and they help us get along nicely. We do not know/what each day can bring us. Still I hope that we shall be strong/and believe that better days will follow./I am very anxious to know how my husband is getting/along? [sic] Is he working? I would be happy if I could stay with/you all, but I doubt as there is no immigration going on in this/country./I send my love and greetings to you and your dear family./The same to my husband, my brother and to the rest of the family./Sincerely,/[signature, then typed below] Blanche Goldszpiner./P.S. Please tell my husband to renew my subscription for the/Reader's Digest. He could pay three dollars for the/year 1940."
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as a single series.
People
- Goldszpiner, Blanche.
- Grob, Daisy.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Warsaw.
- Warsaw (Poland)
Genre
- Photographic postcards.
- Envelopes (Stationery)
- Letters.
- Document