Aaron Tunick papers

Identifier
irn622332
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2017.537.2
  • 2017.537.1
  • 2018.97.1
  • 2018.350.1
Dates
1 Jan 1923 - 31 Dec 1946
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Polish
  • Yiddish
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

box

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Aaron Tunick (born Aron Tunik, 1904-1970) was born in Stołpce, Poland (Stolbsty or Stowbtsy, Belarus) to Mordechai Tunik (1877-1942) and Freida Kharoz (1880-1942). He had eight siblings: Abraham (1902-1969), Menukha (1908-1942), Relka (or Erela, 1902 or 1908-1942), Khasja (1909-1942), Yitzkhak (1912-1942), Henja (1912-1942), Mania (1915-1942), and Tzvi (1928-1942). Mordechai was a merchant. Aaron left Poland in 1934 to join his brother Abraham in Santiago, Chile. By 1935 he immigrated to the United States and settled in New York. He married Goldie Nitzberg (1902-1983) in 1937, whom he previously knew and had sponsored his immigration. They moved to Chicago by 1940 and had two children, Allen and Eileen. Aaron and Abraham’s entire family was murdered in the Holocaust in 1942.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Eileen Tunick

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Eileen Tunick

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Eileen Tunick

The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Eileen Tunick in 2017. Two accretions were donated in 2018. Collections formerly cataloged as 2017.537.1, 2018.97.1, and IRN614065 have been incorporated into this collection.

Scope and Content

The collection primarily consists of family correspondence received by Aaron Tunick, originally of Stołpce, Poland (Stolbsty or Stowbtsy, Belarus), after he emigrated from Poland in 1934. The bulk of the letters (1936-1941) are from his siblings, and in particular Henja and Yitzhak. The letters discuss a deteriorating situation, loss of their businesses because they are Jewish, a rise in antisemitism, and an urgency to flee Poland. A small amount of biographical material consists of a birth certificate and a Zionist Organization of Poland identification card. Also included are photographs depicting Aaron and his family and friends in Stołpce, Poland and his life after immigrating to the United States.

System of Arrangement

The collection is arranged as three series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1930, 1934; Series 2. Correspondence, 1923-1946 and undated; Series 3. Photographs, circa 1920s-1938

Subjects

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.