Weinschenk and Levi families papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize folder
1
1
Creator(s)
- Weinschenk
Biographical History
Margot (neé Levi) Weinschenk (1912-1996) was born in Stuttgart, Germany to Nellie (neé Strauss; b. 1888) and Max Levi (b. 1886). She had one brother, Walter (1915-1945), and married Paul Weinschenk in 1929. Paul Weinschenk (1909-1986) was born to Gisela (neé Sundheimer; 1880-1980) and brewer Julius Weinschenk (1876-1930) in Nuremberg, Germany. He had one sister, Lilly (1904-1986), who married Sigmund Karl Kohnstamm. Both families left Germany in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution and immigrated to the United States and England. Margot and Paul settled in New York, and Max, Nellie, and Walter settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lilly, Sigmund, and Gisela immigrated to England. Max, Nellie, and Walter Levi would later change their last name to Lane. Walter joined the United States Army, and was killed in action in 1945.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Carol Weinschenk Opton and Joshua V. Vlasto
Carol Weinschenk Opton and Joshua J. Vlasto donated the Weinschenk and Levi family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013, with an accretion in 2015. Carol and Joshua are the daughter and grandson of Margot and Paul Weinschenk.
Scope and Content
The Weinschenk and Levi family papers primarily contain biographical material, correspondence, and photographs related to the Weinschenk and Levi families in Stuttgart and Nuremberg, Germany prior to immigrating to the United States to escape Nazi persecution. Biographical materials include genealogical research, passports, driver’s licenses, and a document stating that Margot Weinschenk had been dropped from the voter registry because she is not of Aryan descent, 1936. Correspondence includes letters from Margot and Paul Weinschenk in New York to his sister Lilly and her husband Sigmund Karl Kohnstamm in Wales, 1940-1942. The photographs include portraits, weddings, and social gatherings of the Levi and Weinschenk families, as well as pre-war photographs of Stuttgart, Germany.
System of Arrangement
The papers are arranged as four series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1876-1983; Series 2: Correspondence, 1929-circa 1980s; Series 3: Photographs, 1888-circa 1970s; Series 4: Printed material, 1925-circa 1980s. All series are arranged alphabetically.
People
- Weinschenk
Subjects
- Stuttgart (Germany)
- Emigration & immigration--United States.
- Nuremberg (Germany)
- Jewish families--Germany.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Document