Elsbeth Kasses papers Nachlass Elsbeth Kasses (1910-1992)
Extent and Medium
4,159 digital images, PDF
3 filmstrips, MP4
3 sound recording, MP3
Creator(s)
- Elsbeth Kasser
Biographical History
Elsbeth Kasser (1910-1992) a nurse and refugee aid worker, was born in Niederscherli, Switzerland, the daughter of Friedrich, a pastor, and Anna (née von Greyerz). After secondary school, she trained as a nurse in Thun and Bern, Switzerland; between 1937 and 1939, she worked for the Swiss Working Community for Spanish Children, SAS [Schweizerischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Spanienkinder]. Between 1939 and 1940, she worked in the Women's Auxiliary Service, FHD (Frauenhilfsdienst) and participated in the Swiss Medical Mission to Helsinki. Between 1940 and 1941, she worked for the Swiss Working Community for Children with War-related Disabilities, SAK [Schweizerischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kriegsgeschädigte Kinder] in the French internment camp Gurs, and between 1942 and 1943, for the Swiss Red Cross. Between 1944 and 1945, she supervised refugees in Switzerland; between 1945 and 1948, she worked for the program of Swiss assistance to the war victims in Vienna, Hungary and Finland. She was awarded in 1947 with the first Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Vienna. Between 1950 and 1951, she was head of the Volksbildungsheim Herzberg AG (Public Training Center Herzberg). Between 1953 and 1973, she worked as an Ergotherapist in the Stadtspital Waid in Zurich. From the 1980s, she organized her own papers and worked with other publication projects.
Archival History
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Archiv für Zeitgeschichte - Archivleitung
Acquisition
Source of acquisition is the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Archiv für Zeitgeschichte (AfZ), Switzerland; Archival signature: NL Elsbeth Kasser. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the collection via the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s International Archives Project in March 2017.
Scope and Content
Private papers of Elsbeth Kasser (1910-1992), a nurse and aid worker for refugees in the internment camp of Gurs and in other places. The collection consists of: photographs; certificates; medals; and correspondence, including various documents relating to childcare in the southern France, refugee rescue, the internment camp Gurs, the medical mission to Finland, and the Swiss assistance to war victims; documentation on occupational therapy in Zurich, former internees, former employees in rescue projects in Spain and Southern France, and on rescue in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland; Also includes documents concerning films, recorded sound, the circle of friends "Amicale du Camp de Gurs," and publications.
System of Arrangement
Arranged in five series: 1. Biographical materials; 2. Activities of Elsbeth Kasses as an aid worker for refugees; 3. Correspondence; 4. Awards; 5. Working documentation and publications. Notes: Partly or not digitized: File 30, 38, 49, 57, 59 (publications)
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Archiv für Zeitgeschichte - Archivleitung
People
- Lüthi-Ruth, Elsa, 1909-2005.
- Kasser, Elsbeth, 1910-1992.
Corporate Bodies
- International Committee of the Red Cross
- Gurs (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Switzerland.
- Humanitarian assistance.
- Refugee camps--Switzerland--History--20th century.
- Switzerland
- Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Refugees.
- Switzerland--Politics and government--20th century.
- Jewish refugees--Switzerland--History--20th century.
- Refugee children--Government policy--Switzerland.
- Women social workers--Switzerland--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Switzerland.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust.
- France--Politics and government--20ty century.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Switzerland.
Genre
- Document
- Reports.
- Medals.
- Correspondence.
- Photographs.