Deutscher family papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize folders
1
2
Creator(s)
- Deutscher family
Biographical History
Erwin Deutscher (1923-2003) was born in Vienna, Austria to Efraim (1887-1978) and Beile Ida (née Bachrach; 1895-1989) Deutscher. He had one sister, Rosi (later Rosi Campagnano; b. 1924), and two brothers, Edmund (1926-1956) and Siegmund. His family owned a dairy business that was forced to close shortly after the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938. As conditions worsened, Erwin and 24 other members of the Hashomer Hadati Youth Group were selected to move to Palestine. He arrived on October 24, 1938 and went to Mikveh Israel agricultural school, and then Bnai Akiva yeshiva. He then joined the Haganah where he met his wife Henia Katz (Later Hannah Deutscher; b. 1928). He was also a veteran of the Israel-Arab War, 1948. Erwin and Henia immigrated to the United States in 1951. They would eventually settle in Cincinnati, Ohio. Erwin’s sister Rosi immigrated to Italy. His brothers Edmund and Siegmund were among the 50 children brought from Vienna to the United States by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus in 1939. Edmund joined the United States Army, and later became an engineer. Siegmund joined the United States Air Force. Shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938, Efraim was sent to Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. After he was released in 1940, they were able to join Rosi in Italy. While in Italy, all three of them were sent to the Ferramonti concentration camp around 1941. They remained in Italy until June 1944 when they were able to secure passage to the United States. However, Rosi opted to stay in Italy having met her fiancée, an Italian Jew from Florence names Marcello Campagnano. Upon arrival, Efraim and Beile were sent to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York. They would officially immigrate to the United States in 1946, and settle in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Naomi Deutscher.
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Naomi Deutscher on April 16, 2016.
Scope and Content
The collection primarily documents the immigration experiences of the Deutscher family as they fled Vienna, Austria after its annexation by Germany in 1938. Biographical materials include birth, marriage, and death certificates; identification papers; and a small amount of restitution papers. The immigration papers include Efraim and Beile Deutscher’s documentation from Italy, and Erwin and Henia Deutscher’s documentation regarding immigration to Palestine and later the United States. There is a small amount of correspondence that includes a postcard written to Efraim Deutscher while he was at the Ferramonti concentration camp in Italy, 1941 from his nephew in Russia; post-war letters written to Erwin from his sister Rosi Deutscher in Vienna, and two telegrams. The photographs include a photograph of Beile at Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York; a photograph of Edmund Deutscher wearing his United States Army uniform; photographs of Erwin; and numerous photocopies pre-war and post-war family photographs.
System of Arrangement
The Deutscher family papers are arranged alphabetically as four series: Series 1: Biographical materials, 1938-1998 Series 2: Immigration papers, 1940-1960 Series 3: Correspondence, 1941-2002 and undated Series 4: Photographs, circa 1920s-circa 2000s
People
- Deutscher, Edmund, 1926-1956.
- Deutscher, Beile, 1895-1989.
- Deutscher, Efraim, 1887-1978.
- Deutscher, Henia, 1928-
- Deutscher, Erwin, 1923-2003.
Corporate Bodies
- Ferramonti (Concentration camp)
- Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter (U.S.)
Subjects
- Vienna (Austria)
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Austria--Emigration and immigration.
- Jewish families--Austria--Vienna.
- Palestine--Emigration and immigration.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Jews, Austrian--Israel.
Genre
- Document
- Photographs.