Charnitzki family papers

Erich Charnitzki (b. April 30, 1906) married Paula Israelski (b. October 25, 1901) on March 31, 1935. They had two children, Leo (b. 1936) and Ruth (b. 1937). Erich was arrested on Kristallnacht but was released, leaving by ship for Shanghai in early 1939. Six months later, Paula and her two young children, Ruth and Leo, also left by ship for Shanghai. Erich helped run the refugee camp and Paula helped check workers in at a nearby factory. The children attended an English language school, but spoke German at home. Erich's brother, Kurt, was also able to emigrate to Shanghai. Paula's sister Trude and her children were unable to leave Europe, and although her husband was able to escape to England; she and her children perished during the Holocaust. Paula's mother, Hilda Israelski, did not want to leave Germany and also perished. In 1947, the Charnitzkis were sponsored by distant relatives in Louisville, Kentucky, to immigrate to the United States. They left on the Marine Adder in September 1947. In the United States, they changed their last name to "Charn." Erich Charn died on June 14, 1977; Paula died in 1987; and Leo in 1999. Ruth Charn Kline married Carl Kline and had three sons: Steven, Howard, and Larry. She lives in Louisville, KY.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ruth Kline

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Ruth Kline (born Ruth Charnitzki, later Charn) donated her family's collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014.