Lea Gleitman papers

Identifier
irn516786
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1998.99
Dates
1 Jan 1930 - 31 Dec 1942
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Lea Gleitman was born Lea Lorka Posner on November 27, 1924 in Oświęcim, Poland. Her father, Jonasz Chaim Posner, was a merchant and her mother, Sabina Ernst Posner was a housewife. Lorka was one of four children, she had an older brother, Jehuda Zeev Wowek Posner, born in 1920 and two sisters: Miriam, born in 1922 and Berta Balcia, born in 1927. In 1932 the family moved to Sosnowiec to be closer to their store which was located in Chorzów, Poland. In September 1939 Lea’s father fled Poland to Ostrów, near Lvov, Poland. He was killed there after the Germans invaded the area in June 1941. Lea, her mother and siblings lived in Sosnowiec, on 10 Wspólna Street. They were forced to move to the ghetto at the end of 1941. Sabina Posner, donor’s mother and Balcia, donor’s youngest sister, were deported to Auschwitz in August 1942 where they perished. Wowek Posner, donor’s brother, died in 1943. In March 1943 Lorka and her sister, Miriam, were deported to labor camps. Miriam was in Parschnitz, Czechoslovakia and Lorka was sent to Gräben, a sub camp of Gross Rosen. Lorka worked there in a flax mill. In December 1944 she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The British Army liberated the camp on April 15, 1945. Lorka contacted her uncle, Moshe Posner, in Copenhagen, who arranged for Swedish visas. Miriam Posner, donor’s sister, joined her in Bergen-Belsen DP camp and on May 6, 1946 they arrived in Malmo, Sweden.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Lea Gleitman in 1998.

Scope and Content

The papers consist of one letter written by Sabina Posner (donor's mother) and Miriam Posner (donor's sister) in Sosnowiec, Poland, to Sabina's brother, Josef Ernst, in Detroit, MI; ten photographs of family members and friends in Poland; and one identification card ("Pass for Former Concentration Camp Prisoners") issued to Jozef Gleitman [donor's husband] who was interned in Sachsenhausen.

People

Subjects

Genre

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.