William Malsh papers
Extent and Medium
box
1
Creator(s)
- William R. Malsh
Biographical History
William Malsh (1913-1994) was born Wilhelm Malsch in Düsseldorf to Paul (1885-1941?) and Amalie (nee Samuel, 1889-1941?). He changed his name to Malsh after immigrating to the United States in 1937 with the help of his uncle, Eugene Malsch, who had immigrated in 1890. Malsh lived in Corona, Chicago, and Los Angeles, enlisted in the Army in 1942, and commanded a Military Intelligence Interrogation team at the end of the war. His father and uncle, Ernst Malsch (b. 1887), were imprisoned at Dachau and Sachsenhausen respectively after Kristallnacht. His parents perished in the Holocaust, but sources differ as to whether they were sent to Theresienstadt, Łódź, or Auschwitz. Uncle Ernst managed to escape Germany to Shanghai in 1939.
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.
William and Rebecca Malsh donated the William Malsh papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 and 1997. The accession previously cataloged as 1997.A.0278 has been incorporated into this collection.
Scope and Content
The William Malsh papers consist of letters his parents sent him from Düsseldorf describing their hopelessness and their efforts to escape Nazi Germany. Coded language in letters from November and December 1938 refers to Paul Malsch’s imprisonment in Dachau, letters from summer 1939 document work William expected to receive from Carl Laemmle, letters from the spring of 1940 reflect his parents' reaction to news of his engagement, and an October 1941 letter reveals their expectation that they would shortly be moving to an unknown location. Additional correspondence with his uncles Ernst and Eugene Malsch document Ernst’s escape to Shanghai and Eugene’s efforts to help the family immigrate. The collection also contains a photograph and brief biographical sketch of William’s parents and a World War I postcard from William’s father to Eugene.
System of Arrangement
The William Malsh papers are arranged as a single series: I. William Malsh papers, 1915-approximately 1993 (bulk 1937-1941)
Subjects
- Jews--Germany--Düsseldorf.
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Jewish refugees--New York (State)--New York.
- Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai.
- Shanghai (China)
- Düsseldorf (Germany)
Genre
- Photographs.
- Document