Basia and Morris Rubinstein papers
Extent and Medium
folders
2
Creator(s)
- Morris Rubinstein
- Basia Rubinstein
Biographical History
Basia “Betty” Zajaczkowska Rubinstein (née Zajaczkowska, Zajaczkowski, or Zakowski, 1926-2012) was born on 15 February 1926 in Kielce, Poland to Josef (1889-1942) and Ides or Ida (née Buchbinder, d. 1942) Zajaczkowska. She had five siblings: Mania, Leon (b. 1918), Tosia, Regina, and Rose. Basia and Morris were both deported to the Kielce ghetto in October 1939. They married there in November 1942. They were both deported to the Pionki work camp in May 1943. In August 1944 they fled the camp and hid in the woods, but were discovered by Ukrainian soldiers. Morris was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was likely sent to two subcamps referred to as Glöven and Rathenow before he was liberated in April 1945. Basia was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp where she was a forced-laborer for Siemens. Basia was among the prisoners the Germans released to the Swedish and Danish Red Cross on 26 April 1945. She was taken to a refugee camp in Solberga, Sweden where she was reunited with Morris. They moved to the New Palestine DP camp in Salzburg, Austria in 1946. Their daughter Ida was born in 1947. The family immigrated to the United States aboard the USAT General S. D. Sturgis in 1951. The family settled in Illinois where their daughters Charlotte and Joyce were born. Basia’s brother Leon fled the Kielce ghetto and later fought the Germans alongside members of the Polish Army. He later joined Basia in the New Palestine DP camp. The rest of her family was murdered in the Holocaust.
Morris Rubinstein (born Moses Rubinsztajn, 1914-2005) was born on 3 September 1914 in Kielce to Lejbus (1886-1942) and Cyrl (née Dembska, d. 1942) Rubinsztajn. He had four siblings: Meyer (1917-2009), David, Rose, and Irving. Basia and Morris were both deported to the Kielce ghetto in October 1939. They married there in November 1942. They were both deported to the Pionki work camp in May 1943. In August 1944 they fled the camp and hid in the woods, but were discovered by Ukrainian soldiers. Morris was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was likely sent to two subcamps referred to as Glöven and Rathenow before he was liberated in April 1945. Basia was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp where she was a forced-laborer for Siemens. Basia was among the prisoners the Germans released to the Swedish and Danish Red Cross on 26 April 1945. She was taken to a refugee camp in Solberga, Sweden where she was reunited with Morris. They moved to the New Palestine DP camp in Salzburg, Austria in 1946. Their daughter Ida was born in 1947. The family immigrated to the United States aboard the USAT General S. D. Sturgis in 1951. The family settled in Illinois where their daughters Charlotte and Joyce were born.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joyce Pollakoff
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joyce Pollakoff
The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Joyce Pollakoff. An accretion was donated in 2018. Joyce is the daughter of Basia and Morris Rubinstein. The collections previously numbered 2014.168.1 and 2018.408.1 have been incorporated into this collection.
Scope and Content
The collection primarily documents the post-war experiences of Basia (née Zajaczkowska) and Morris Rubinstein, who met and were married in the Kielce ghetto in 1942, in the New Palestine DP camp in Salzburg, Austria from 1946-1951. Included are photographs of Basia in the refugee camp in Solberga, Sweden after her liberation from the Ravensbrück concentration camp, and two telegrams regarding her house in Kielce and one from her brother Leon Zajaczkowska informing her that he and her husband Morris were alive and in Italy. An accretion includes a 1939 letter from Basia’s mother Ides and sister Mania to her aunt Ida in the United States announcing Mania’s engagement (donor provided translation is included), a 1945 letter from Basia’s brother Leon in Lublin discussing his involvement with members of the Polish Army during the war and his attempts to get in touch with Basia, a copy of Basia and Morris’s marriage certificate, a letter from HIAS regarding affidavits from Basia’s cousin Irving Roth, vaccination certificates and identification cards, and baggage tags from their immigration to the United States in 1951 aboard the USAT General S. D. Sturgis. Additional photographs include pre-war depictions of Basia’s parents Josef and Ides, the Zajackowska family, Basia’s great aunt Ida Roth, and a presumably post-war photograph of Basia and Morris.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as a single series.
People
- Rubinstein, Morris, 1914-2005.
- Zajaczkowska, Leon.
- Rubinstein, Basia, 1926-2012.
Corporate Bodies
- New Palestine (Displaced persons camp)
- Sachsenhausen (Concentration camp)
- Kielce (Concentration camp)
- Pionki (Concentration camp)
- Ravensbrück (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Jews--Poland--Kielce.
- Forced labor.
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Kielce (Poland)
- Refugee camps--Sweden.
- Displaced persons camps.
- Salzburg (Austria)
Genre
- Photographs.
- Document