Rothschild family papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize folder
1
1
Creator(s)
- Rothschild family
Biographical History
Ilse Rothschild (later Schwersenz and Leiner, b. 1910) was born to Salli (Salomon, Sally, 1881-1946) and Johanna Rothschild (née Friesem, 1881-1968). Salli owned a bakery in Bremen, Germany and had three children: Ilse, Rolf, and Adolf. Ilse married Arno Schwersenz (later Sherran) and they had a son, Jack (born Jakob Schwersenz, later Jack Leiner, 1936-2019), born in Bremen. Salli and Johanna sent Rolf to Palestine and Johanna soon followed, but she returned to Germany. In the late 1930s Salli became increasingly worried for their safety. He saw an advertisement in the newspaper from a baker in the United States who wanted to return to Germany. Salli and the other baker reached an agreement to exchange bakeries and Johanna, Salli, and Adolf left for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ilse, Arno, and Jack followed in 1937. They attempted to bring other family members to the United States, but were unsuccessful and everyone perished. Arno and Ilse divorced when Jack was a child and Ilse later married Elias Leiner. Jack married Maxine Krim (b. 1937) and had three children: Sally (b. 1958), Kim (b.1960), and Eric (b.1963).
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Maxine Leiner
Maxine Leiner, wife of Jack Leiner, donated the Rothschild family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019.
Scope and Content
The Rothschild family papers include biographical material, printed material, writings, and photographs relating to Salli and Johanna Rothschild and their family before the war in Bremen, Germany, their immigration, and the relocation of their bakery to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1937. Biographical materials include a birth certificate for Jack Leiner; a birth certificate and work papers from the Office of Censorship for Ilse Rothschild; a birth certificate, German passport (Reisepass), and a certificate of naturalization for Johanna Rothschild; and a birth certificate, German passport (Reisepass), marriage certificate, clippings related to his bakery, a certificate of naturalization, and the obituary for Salli Rothschild. Printed material includes a page from the Pittsburgh Press, dated May 22, 1938, with articles relating to the war as well as a newsletter titled The Octagram, dated April 21, 1945. Correspondence consists mainly of letters to Salli from Rosalie Alter(?), Johanna’s sister, as well as a letter to A. Rothschild which includes a recipe. The series also includes a diary kept by Johanna Rothschild while on a trip to Palestine in 1935. Photographs include pre-war and wartime photographs and photographic postcards of the Rothschild family in Bremen, Germany and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1930s and 1940s, including photographs in front of their bakery in Germany and the United States. The photographs depict Leo, Rosalie Alter(?), Raphael (Salli’s father), Ilse Rothschild, Adolf Rothschild, Salli Rothschild, Johanna Rothschild, Jack Leiner, Arno Schwersenz, Rolf Rothschild, and Aunt Gerda.
System of Arrangement
The Rothschild family papers arranged as three series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1908-1968 Series 2: Printed material and writings, 1935-1943 Series 3: Photographs, circa 1910-1940s
People
- Rothschild, Johanna, 1881-1946.
- Rothschild, Ilse.
- Rothschild, Salli, 1881-1968.
- Leiner, Jack.
Subjects
- Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Bremen (Germany)
- Jewish families--Germany.
- Jewish cooking.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--History.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Correspondence.
- Diaries.
- Photographic postcards.
- Document