Wellisch and Auerbach families papers

Kurt Wellisch (1910-1982) was born on September 10, 1910 in Vienna, Austria. His parents were Sam (Samu, Samuel) Wellisch (1881-1971), born October 12, 1881 in Hungary and Laura (Lina) Wellisch (née Strauchbaum, 1882-1967), born October 15, 1882 in Vienna, Austria. He also had a younger brother Heinz (1917-2010), who was born December 13, 1917. The family lived at Borseplatz 6 in the First District of Vienna. Samu was a manufacturer’s representative; at one point Laura owned a fashionable clothing store. Kurt attended the Wasa Gymnasium and then the University of Vienna, graduating with a doctorate in law. Kurt Wellisch married Frieda Auerbach (1912-1990) in Vienna’s Stadttempel on June 13, 1937, and they lived with his parents at Borseplatz 6. Kurt practiced law until shortly after the Anschluss when the Nazis barred Jews from the profession. He was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo on May 4, 1938 and incarcerated in various Viennese jails for six weeks. He meticulously recorded his appointments with the Gestapo as well as his arrest, imprisonment and transfer among these jails in his 1938 lawyer’s appointment book. On June 14th, the day after his first wedding anniversary, he was released on the condition that he and his family leave Austria. During his incarceration, Frieda had secured the necessary exit documents and transit visas and, on July 30th, Kurt, Frieda, and his brother Heinz fled Vienna and traveled to Switzerland via Italy, arriving in Zurich on September 22nd. They remained in Zurich for approximately eighteen months, working at various jobs under the auspices of the Zionist Congress. After receiving the necessary affidavits, they booked passage on what was to be the last voyage of the Italian ship Rex out of Genoa on May 1, 1940. Upon their arrival in the United States, they spent several weeks in New York, ultimately settling in Miami, Florida. Kurt worked as an elevator operator, piano salesman and bookkeeper. He later went back to school at the University of Miami, receiving both his Bachelor of Business Administration and his J.D. He became a C.P.A. and practiced probate and tax law. He also did reparations work for German and Austrian refugees. Frieda initially worked as a milliner and salesperson in several Miami department stores. She later became a homemaker. They had one son, Fred Allen Wellisch, born October 12, 1947 in Miami, Florida. Kurt and Frieda were divorced in 1978. Kurt remarried but Frieda remained single. Kurt died on April 15, 1982. Frieda died on June 26, 1990. Kurt’s father Samu was already in Zurich by the time Kurt, Frieda and Heinz arrived there. He remained in Switzerland during the war and then immigrated to the United States, settling in Miami, Florida where he became a part-time bookkeeper. Kurt’s mother Laura left Vienna for Budapest in November 1939 and was later able to immigrate to the United States. She joined Samu in Miami, Florida, where she helped Samu with his bookkeeping. Samu died on October 13, 1971. Laura died in November of 1967.

Frieda Auerbach (1912-1990) was born on July 12, 1912 in Vienna, Austria. She was the only child of Ignatz (1873-1942) and Rosine (Regina) Auerbach (née Loewy, 1875-1942). Ignatz was born April 24, 1873 in Szenice, Czechoslovakia. Regine was born on November 23, 1875 in Pressburg, Czechoslovakia (aslo know as Bratislava or Pozsony). The family lived at Kirchengasse 20 in Vienna’s Seventh District. Ignatz owned a hat factory at 28 Neubaugasse; Rosine was a homemaker. Frieda completed an apprenticeship at her father’s hat factory and became a milliner. She marrried Kurt Wellisch (1910-1982) in Vienna on June 13, 1937. They fled Austria via Italy with Kurt’s brother Heinz on July 30, 1938, arriving in Zurich, Switzerland on September 22nd. They immigrated to the United States aboard the Italian ship Rex out of Genoa on May 1, 1940 and settled in Miami, Florida. During their 18-month exile in Switzerland and subsequent settlement in the United States, Kurt and Frieda exchanged a voluminous correspondence with Frieda’s parents, Ignatz and Regine, who remained in Vienna. Some of the letters were also addressed to Kurt’s mother Laura before she left for Budapest. Kurt kept copies of all the letters he sent to Vienna and preserved the letters he received from Ignatz and Regine. This correspondence began on August 3, 1938 and ended on September 4, 1941. Although many of the letters discussed family matters and everyday occurrences, they were primarily concerned with finding ways of getting Ignatz and Regine out of Austria. They were urged to press their case with the U.S. Consulate regarding their refugee status and quota numbers, to contact the Vienna Israelitische Kultusgemeinde to expedite matters, to consider immigration to various countries, and to write to numerous individuals requesting affidavits, including a relative in Montana by the name of Silas Auerbach. Simultaneously, Kurt and Frieda were doing their best from America to move the United States Consulate to action by presenting evidence that because of their secure employment status and net worth, Ignatz and Regine would not become public charges. Samu joined the correspondence from Zurich starting in March of 1941 and many of his letters deal with whether tickets for Ignatz and Regine should be booked on either the Portuguese ship Serpa Pinto out of Lisbon or the Spanish steamer Motomar out of Cadiz. Despite these efforts, Ignatz and Regine were unable to escape the Holocaust. Their quota numbers never came up, nor were they able to obtain the necessary exit or transit visas. Additionally, the American consulate in Vienna was closed and, as of July 1, 1941, visas had to be procured through Washington. The hat factory at 28 Neubaugasse was expropriated by the Nazis, apparently sometime in 1939 and Ignatz and Rosine were relocated from their home at 20 Kirchengasse to the 2nd District (their last Vienna address was Grosse Sperlgasse 32/8). They were ultimately deported to Łódź, Poland by train on October 19, 1941 and then to Chełmno on May 4, 1942, where they are believed to have been killed shortly after arrival.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Fred Wellisch

Fred Wellisch, son of Kurt and Frieda Wellisch and grandson of Ignatz and Rosine Auerbach, donated the Wellisch and Auerbach families papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018.