Harry Ehrismann papers

Harry Ehrismann papers 

Harry Ehrismann (1921-2011) was born January 2, 1921 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to Harry and Andrina (Jansen) Ehrismann. He studied languages, specialized in German, and started working for the Rotterdam Municipal Police in 1938. He worked in the aliens department and was selected as one of a group of four who boarded the returning MS St. Louis in June 1939 at Vlissingen to select the passengers who would receive permission to disembark in the Netherlands. He was still working for the Rotterdam Municipal Police Alien Department when Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. On May 9, 1944, he married Maria “Riet” Theresia Ehrismann, and they had five sons: Anthony, Francis, Paul, Harry, and Lawrence. On November 10, 1944, Harry was rounded up by the German occupiers to perform “defense work” and was sent to a work camp at Karlsfeld, a subcamp of Dachau and part of BMW’s München-Allach Werk 2. Harry worked in the administration of the stock rooms and was able to move freely around the city. He was able to pass food to some of the Dutch prisoners at Dachau before he was returned home in January 1945. He started writing to an American pen pal after the war, and a mutual friend who visited him in Rotterdam in 1947 eventually sponsored the Ehrismann family’s immigration to the United States in 1950. 

Harry Ehrismann papers