Rachel Rottersman correspondence with Grace Cohen Grossman

Rachel Blair Greene (later Rottersman, 1908-1993) was born in Seattle, Washington, to William (1874-1947) and Ada (nee Prall, 1877-1929) Greene. Rachel had three brothers, George (1907-1979), Robert (1912-1993), and William, Jr. (1917-2012). William was a lawyer, and the family lived in a large home. They employed a housekeeper, and owned a local movie theater. At age 12, Rachel and a friend began helping care for children from a local orphanage, and gave clothing to a classmate whose family had recently immigrated to the United States. When Rachel was 14, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while traveling on the east coast, and Rachel took over as the primary caregiver for her brothers. In 1926, Rachel enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle, and focused on premedical studies at her father’s insistence. During Rachel’s third year, her mother died, leading Rachel to drop out of school. In 1931, Rachel joined a government relief organization, a step that aligned with her teenage dream of becoming a social worker. After multiple federal and state assignments, she resigned in early 1936 and reenrolled at the University of Washington, graduating in December 1936. The following month, she began attending the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. After completing qualifying exams for her Ph.D., Rachel became an assistant professor in social welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. In October 1944, Rachel joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). After a few months of training, she sailed for Europe and arrived in England in January 1945. Her first assignment was to aid arrivals as part of Team 18 at a displaced persons (DP) camp in Kirchberg, Germany. Rachel then worked at Baumholder DP camp, where she assisted in the repatriation of over 20,000 refugees to their home countries. She also helped combat a typhoid epidemic in the camp. After the camp was closed, Rachel was assigned to work at a staging center from July to September 1945. On September 11, 1945, Rachel became the team director of a children’s home located at an estate just outside the village of Unterschwarzach (now Schwarzach, Germany). The estate, formerly an Evangelical industrial training school called Schwacher Hof, was renamed Aglasterhausen Children’s Center. Rachel spent approximately a month directing the renovation of the estate and hiring personnel, including UNRRA employees, skilled staff from the DP population, and local German maintenance workers. The children’s center opened in October 1945, and by the end of the year housed over 140 children, representing 15 nationalities. Rachel prioritized a structured environment, so the children had classroom instruction, music and arts, planned recreation time, as well as regular chores. In the spring of 1946, the population topped 200 children, repatriation of Polish children began, and 35 children were allowed to immigrate to the United States. Rachel was able to arrange for one of her brothers and his wife to adopt one of the babies from Aglasterhausen. In January 1947, Josef Rottersman (1914-2008), a Polish Jew who fled to Russia and served as a dentist for the Russian Army, arrived at Aglasterhausen to offer his services. Although the center already had a dentist, Rachel found a position for him and the pair soon fell in love. They married on May 22, and held a reception at Aglasterhausen. The UNRRA ceased its DP operations in June 1947. However the children’s center remained open with the assistance of the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organisation (PCIRO). After Rachel became pregnant in the fall of 1947, the couple made plans to move to the United States. Rachel resigned from her post on January 15, 1948, and left Germany on February 3, 1948. Josef was able to join her the following month, and changed his name to Joseph. Between September 1945 and February 1948, 1,000 children had been cared for at Aglasterhausen. Of those, approximately one-third were repatriated to their native countries in Europe, 100 were reunited with their parents in Germany, and 350 were sent to the United States and Canada for adoption or foster care. In March 1948, MGM released a film called “The Search,” featuring a children’s home and matron based on Aglasterhausen and Rachel. The film won two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes, amongst other awards and nominations, in 1949. Rachel and Joseph moved to Chicago in 1948. There, Rachel worked for aid agencies as a social worker and later became a teacher. Their first child, Helena (b. 1948), died in infancy. They had another child, John (b. 1949), later the following year. Joseph became a naturalized United States citizen in 1950.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Grace Cohen Grossman

Gift of Dr. Grace Cohen Grossman, 2017.