Frederic Zeller papers
Extent and Medium
box
1
Creator(s)
- Frederic Zeller
Biographical History
Frederic Zeller (nicknamed Fredi, 1924-1994) was born on 20 May 1924 in Berlin, Germany to Heinrich and Fanny Zeller. He had one sister, Lilian. His father, Heinrich (Henri, b. 1894), was born in in Vienna, Austria and had three brothers, Emmanuel (Mulu), Edek, and Monio, and one sister, Dasha. Frederic’s mother, Fanny (b. 1891), was born in Borysław (Boryslav, Ukraine) to Hersh and Esther Gottesmann, and had six siblings including Cilly, Leona, Bertha, Max, Charlotte (Lotte). Frederic’s parents owned a store in the Moabit district of Berlin, but moved to Spandau by 1932. After the German annexation of Austria in 1938, the Zellers lost their Austrian citizenship. Several relatives began to emigrate from Germany. After Kristallnacht, Frederic’s family tried to get him on a Kindertranport. After several failed attempts, Frederic, along with his cousin Norbert and several other children, decided to try and reach the Netherlands on their own. They arrived in the Netherlands on 14 December 1938 and were allowed to cross the border as Jewish refugees. They were sent to a refugee camp in Rotterdam. Frederic’s sister Lilian joined him in Rotterdam in early 1939. Frederic and his sister were sent to England on a Kindertransport in 1939. He went to Preston, England in July 1939. He remained in England for the duration of the war, and immigrated to the United States in 1957. Frederic’s father Heinrich escaped Berlin in 1940 and went to France. He was imprisoned in the Gurs and St. Cyprien internment camps, and then deported to the Drancy transit camp in 1943. On 6 March 1943 he was deported to the Sobibor extermination camp where he perished. Frederic’s mother Fanny was a forced-laborer in a factory in Berlin, and then deported to Minsk in 1941 where she perished.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Susan Kennedy Zeller In loving memory of her husband Frederic Zeller and his family
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Susan Kennedy Zeller, the widow of Frederic Zeller.
Scope and Content
The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Frederic Zeller of Berlin, Germany including his escape from Berlin by train in 1938 and his experiences as a refugee in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Preston, Lancashire, England. Included are illustrated diaries, biographical material, photographs, and correspondence including letters sent by his father Heinrich Zeller from the Gurs and Saint-Cyprien concentration camps in France. Biographical materials includes a family book (Familien Stambuch), birth certificates, diaries, and papers documenting his time in the refugee camp in Rotterdam and in England. The first diary documents Frederic’s life prior to leaving Berlin, and also includes loose notes. The second diary is illustrated and primarily chronicles his time as a refugee in Rotterdam. The third diary is post-war and documents his life in England. Additionally, there is a transcription of an interview Frederic conducted with David Borgenicht at the TB Hospice, Quare Mead, Straftord, a camp for boys rescued from Theresienstadt where he worked or volunteered. Correspondence includes wartime letters from Heinrich and Fanny Zeller to their children, Fanny’s sister Cilly Bobath (née Gottesmann) and her daughter Lotte living in Copenhagen, and family friend Freek Adriaans. Some of the letters from Heinrich were sent from Gurs and Saint-Cyprien. Other correspondence includes letters to Frederic from Freek Adriaans, Lilian, and his cousin Susi Zeller. Some of the letters in this series are photocopies. Photographs include prewar photographs of the Zeller family, relatives, and friends. Wartime photographs include depictions of Frederic and Lilian in the refugee camp in Rotterdam, and Frederic in England. There are also postwar photographs of the TB Hospice camp in Quare Mead. Some photographs are copyprints.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranges as three series. Series 1. Biographical materials, 1922-1951; Series 2. Correspondence, 1938-1981; Series 3. Photographs, circa 1927-1990
People
- Frederic Zeller
- Zeller, Lilian.
- Zeller, Frederic, 1924-1994.
- Zeller, Heinrich.
- Zeller, Fanny.
Corporate Bodies
- Gurs (Concentration camp)
- Saint-Cyprien (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Refugees, Jewish--England.
- Berlin (Germany)
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--England.
- Rotterdam (Netherlands)
- Preston (Lancashire, England)
- Jews--Germany--Berlin.
- Refugee camps--Netherlands--Rotterdam.
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Netherlands.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Diaries.
- Document
- Correspondence.