Leonore Gumpert correspondence
Extent and Medium
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Creator(s)
- Leonore Gumpert
Biographical History
Leonore Gumpert (1922-2008) was born Lieselotte Lina (Lilo) Joseph to Julius Joseph (1885-1959) and Clara Joseph (nee Neu, 1891-1942) and lived with her parents and sister, Inge (1925-1983), in Darmstadt. Julius Joseph was arrested on false charges in 1936, released and escaped to England in 1939, and immigrated to the United States in 1940. Leonore immigrated to the United States in 1938, settling in Chicago. Inge joined a Kindertransport to Brussels in 1939 and stayed with relatives and then in a home for refugee children. When Germany invaded Belgium, Inge was evacuated with the other children to Seyre (Haute Garonne) and then to Chateau la Hille near Pamier (Ariège). She escaped to Switzerland in 1943, immigrated to the United States in 1946, and married Frank Bleier. Clara Joseph (1891-1942) was deported via Piaski to Trawniki and perished.
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.
Leonore Gumpert donated the Leonore Gumpert correspondence to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003.
Scope and Content
The Leonore Gumpert correspondence consists of letters and postcards dated 1938-1942 to Leonore in America from her mother, Clara Joseph, in Kassel and Darmstadt and from her sister, Inge, in Kassel, Darmstadt, Brussels, Seyre, and Chateau de la Hille. Some correspondence from Germany includes messages from Leonore's aunt Martha and grandmother Josephine. There are also a few letters and postcards from Leonore's father, Julius, and from relatives in New York. Most of the letters and postcards describe daily life in Germany, Belgium, and France and relate efforts to immigrate. One October 1938 letter from Clara Joseph includes recipes. Some of the letters and postcards are accompanied by English translations provided by the donor.
System of Arrangement
The Leonore Gumpert correspondence is arranged as a single series: I. Leonore Gumpert correspondence, 1938-1942
People
- Bleier, Inge J.
- Joseph, Clara.
Subjects
- Jews, German--Germany--Darmstadt--Correspondence.
- Jews, German--France--Correspondence.
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--History--1933-1945.
- Jewish refugees--France.
- Darmstadt (Germany)
- United States--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Jews, German--Belgium--Brussels--Correspondence.
- Jewish refugees--Belgium.
- Jews--Germany--Darmstadt.
Genre
- Document