Ofner family papers
Extent and Medium
folders
oversize box
4
1
Creator(s)
- Peter Ofner
Biographical History
Peter Ofner was born in 1923 in Berlin, Germany, to Curt (Kurt) and Betzi (nee Leon) Ofner. Curt was a veteran of the German Army in World War and worked as a high school teacher at one of Berlin's oldest municipal schools. In 1935, he was forced to resign and took a position of Holdheim high school, established for Jewish students. On Kristallnacht, Curt was arrested and spent a month in Sachsenhausen. Upon his release, he was motivated to escape to safety. Curt was able to secure passage for Peter, an only child, on a Kindertransport to Sweden, where he was cared for by members of the Jewish community of Stockholm (Mosaiska Foersamlingen). Peter remained in Sweden until 1940, when he reunited with his parents, who had managed to emigrate to Great Britain. Curt became a teacher at St. Bees secondary school, where Peter enrolled as a student. After his graduation, Peter attended the University of London, eventually earning a PhD in organic chemistry in 1950. He became a biomedical research scientist and associate professor of pharmacology and of urology at Tufts University School of medicine and the long-time director of the Steroid Biochemistry Laboratory at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston. He passed away on May 24, 2013.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Amy Siegel
Amy Siegel donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She was a family friend of the late Dr. Peter Ofner.
Scope and Content
Consists of documents, day planners, photograph albums, and loose photographs related to the experiences of Curt and Betty Ofner and their son Peter, originally of Berlin, Germany. Includes pre-war family documents, education documents, and correspondence documenting the family's life and work in Berlin, Peter's emigration in 1939 to Stockholm and subsequently to Great Britain, where he reunited with his parents. Includes passports (Reisepass), Curt Ofner's paperwork to continue a teaching career in Great Britain, correspondence, family photographs, and Peter Ofner's 1939 and 1943 day planners. Also includes three photograph albums from an unknown relative or friend (possibly with the last name of Freudenthal) documenting medical school, a children's hospital, and vacations in 1927-1933 in Hamburg, Berlin, and in Buch, Germany.
People
- Ofner, Betty.
- Ofner, Curt.
- Ofner, Peter, 1923-2013.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Germany--Berlin.
- Berlin (Germany)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Berlin.
- Stockholm (Sweden)
Genre
- Photographs.
- Passports.
- Document
- Letters.