Köppel family papers
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Judith K. Steel
Biographical History
Judith Köppel (now Steel) was the daughter of Josef Köppel and Irmgard Weissenberg Köppel. She was born in 1938 in Berlin, Germany, where her father was a fur dealer and her mother was a milliner. When she was just 14 months old, Judith sailed along with her parents and grandfather, Jakob Köppel, on the MS St. Louis for Cuba. After the ship was forced to return to Europe, the family was sent to France and rented an apartment in the home of Joseph and Eliette Carapezzi Enard in Nay, a small town in southern France. Judith became friendly with the landlord's daughter, Suzy, and Eliette whom she affectionately referred to as "Maman Suzy." One day in 1942, French gendarmes arrived at the home, arrested the Köppels, and sent them to Gurs concentration camp. Jakob, who was sickly and confined to bed, remained behind. After three weeks, Josef and Irmgard said goodbye to Judith, and the Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE) brought her out of the camp.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Judith Koeppel Steel
The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Judith Koeppel Steel.
Scope and Content
The papers consist of twenty photographs that include images of Judith Köppel [donor] after her birth in 1938 and images of her parents, Josef and Irmgard, a menu from the MS St. Louis is dated May 21, 1939, and two documents issued to Josef Köppel in 1933 and 1939.
People
- Köppel, Irmgard Weissenberg.
- Steel, Judith Köppel.
- Judith K. Steel
- Köppel, Jakob.
- Köppel, Josef.
Corporate Bodies
- St. Louis (Ship)
Subjects
- Hidden children (Holocaust)--France.
- Emigration & immigration--United States--1940-1950.
- Emigration & immigration--Cuba--1930-1940.
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust--France.
Genre
- Document
- Photographs.
- Menus.