Lothar Kahn papers
Extent and Medium
folders
3
Creator(s)
- Louis Hane
Biographical History
Louis Hane (1910‐1979) was born Lothar Kahn in Lollar, Germany, to Albert and Regina Kahn and had an older sister named Leni. He became a Social Democrat after World War I and started working for his father’s oil supply business in 1928. In 1933 he married Maria Dort, who was not Jewish. He was imprisoned at the Osthofen concentration camp for three weeks in August 1933 as a political prisoner because of his party affiliation and because he was suspected of publishing an anti‐Nazi poem. He was forced out of his job in 1935 and found a new position in Berlin. His sister fled to Brazil in 1936, his mother died in 1937, and his father was imprisoned for three weeks in Buchenwald in 1939 and joined Leni in Brazil in 1940. Louis worked or performed slave labor in Berlin for Siemens‐Bauunion, Siemens‐Halske, Siemens‐Schuckert, C. Pose Nachf., and at the Scheffler Moving Company. He was briefly arrested in 1943 during the Fabrikaktion (Factory Action). After the Russian Army liberated Berlin, he rejoined his family in Lollar, and they immigrated to America in 1946.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Herbert Hane donated the Lothar Kahn papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995, 1996, and 2004. Accessions previous cataloged as 1996.A.0379 and 2004.540 have been incorporated into this collection.
Scope and Content
The Lothar Kahn papers consist of biographical materials, a personal narrative, and photographs documenting Louis Hane, born Lothar Kahn, of Lollar, Germany, his marriage to Maria Dort, who was not Jewish, the forced labor he performed in Berlin during the Nazi period, and his family’s immigration to the United States in 1946. Biographical materials include a birth certificate, identification papers, a report card, employment records, registration documents, and a testimony of character documenting Louis Hane’s childhood in Giessen, his work in Berlin, and his immigration to the United States. Louis Hane’s personal narrative is titled Super Against My Will (Hauswart Wider Willen): A Memoir of Pre and World War II Germany. He wrote it in German in the 1970s after his retirement, but the copy in this collection is an English translation by his son Herbert Hane, who also included his own edits and comments. The memoir describes Louis’ childhood in Lollar, working for his father’s oil supply business, and marrying Maria Dort. He describes his three week imprisonment at the Osthofen concentration camp in 1933 as a political prisoner; being forced out of his job in 1935; moving to Berlin, and the voluntary work and forced labor he performed there at Siemens‐Bauunion, Siemens‐Halske, Siemens‐Schuckert, C. Pose Nachf., and at the Scheffler Moving Company; his arrest in 1943 during the Fabrikaktion and release the following day; the liberation of Berlin by the Red Army; his reunion with his family in Lollar; denazification; and his family’s immigration to the United States in 1946. Photographs depict Louis’ grandparents, Levi and Susanne Lowenstein; his father, mother, and sister, Albert, Regina, and Leni Kahn; his wife Maria Dort; and his sons, Wolfgang, Herbert, and Juergen.
System of Arrangement
The Lothar Kahn papers are arranged as a single series: I. Lothar Kahn papers, approximately 1900-2004
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Herbert Hane
Subjects
- Interfaith marriage--Germany.
- Forced labor--Germany--Berlin.
- Political prisoners--Germany--Osthofen.
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
- Jews--Germany--Berlin.
- Lollar (Germany)
- Berlin (Germany)
- Jews--Germany--Lollar.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Document