Rosenwald and Stahl families papers

The Rosenwald and Stahl families papers consists of correspondence, identification and travel documents, postcards, photographs, an autograph album, financial documents and restitution files, and other similar materials related to the emigration of the family of Otto and Elfriede Rosenwald, and their daughter, Helen, from Germany in 1936, to escape Nazi persecution, as well as the later emigration of Otto’s father, Simon. Includes selected photographs and documents related to the family of Helen Rosenwald Stahl's husband, Gerhard (Gerald) Stahl, documenting their own lives in pre-war Germany and Gerhard's immigration to Great Britain in 1939. The collection is divided into two series: Biographical and Financial. In the Biographical series, documents that help identify various biographical data about family members are included, such as birth certificates, passports, identification cards, military records, driver’s licenses, and similar materials. Also included are printed programs and clippings of reviews from musical performances that featured Otto Rosenwald from 1919 to 1936, and records from organizations that Otto Rosenwald belonged to in Germany, including some from which he had to leave, due to anti-Semitic policies after 1933 (such as the local fire brigade). Also included is a file regarding the Luise Ochs, the widow of Otto Rosenwald’s cousin, Fritz, who sought to prove in the post-war years that she had converted to Judaism during the Nazi era, so that she would be eligible to receive benefits (which Rosenwald family members affirmed). Also included in the Biographical series are materials related to the family of the husband of Helen Rosenwald Stahl, Gerald (Gerhard) Stahl, documenting both his immigration to Great Britain in 1939, as well as photographs and other documents from his family, including an autograph book kept by his mother, Sophie, in the early 1900s, and documents related to his parents’ attempt to leave Germany in 1940, including their passports and an unused affidavit. The Financial series largely consists of records from Otto’s father, Simon, related to bank accounts, debts owed to him, and mortgages held by him, which were frozen after his emigration. Such records include correspondence with banks, and date mostly from late 1938 onward (after Kristallnacht), showing efforts to consolidate assets, sell securities, provide for indigent relatives, and recover debts and outstanding mortgage payments, prior to his departure from Germany. After arriving in New York, Simon Rosenwald continued to pursue these matters up until the time when the United States entered World War II. Following the war, he resumed efforts to recover frozen bank accounts, and to press claims against those who he had given mortgages to, and who had not made payments or from which he had not received any interest since the late 1930s. In addition to the financial matters of Simon Rosenwald, this series also contains some restitution-related records, in which the Rosenwald family sought to receive compensation during the 1950s for their lost business and real estate; as well as a file of correspondence from Max Perlman, who distributed assistance to the family from the William Rosenwald Family Association.

The Rosenwald and Stahl families papers are arranged in two series, and then in alphabetic order within each series: I. Biographical `1885-1980, II. Financial 1906-1960.