Valerie and Andrea Wolffenstein: correspondence and papers

Valerie and Andrea Wolffenstein were both born in Berlin, in 1891 and 1897 respectively. Valerie trained as a painter and worked as a secretary for Reichskunstwart, Dr. Edwin Redslob; from 1931 for the writer and film director, Eberhard Frowein; and after a period of unemployment, for Dr. Paul Zucker, architect and art historian. There followed a period of forced labour with the company Zeiss-Ikon, and from January 1943 she lived in hiding until liberation by the Americans at the end of the war. Since which time she lived with her sister in Munich.

Andrea studied music at the Berlin Hochschule and taught piano from 1924 until she was forbidden to teach aryan children. Thereafter she spent a short time as a music teacher at the Jewish Goldschmidt-Schule. She then worked as a forced labourer for the armaments manufacturer, Scherbund Schwer until going underground with her sister. 

The depositor befriended the 2 sisters after the war and must have received the correspondence from them. 

Valerie and Andrea Wolffenstein: correspondence and papers 

1 folder 

This collection consists mainly of correspondence from friends and acquaintances of Valerie and Andrea Wolffenstein, 2 sisters of Jewish origins, who converted to Christianity and who managed to survive the war in hiding in Germany. It comprises mostly reminiscences and birthday wishes etc 

Open 

The correspondence has been arranged according to correspondent, and, where relevant, references have been made to the page numbers of the edition of a biography of Valerie Wolffenstein, where the names occur in the text. 

This book, Erinnerungen von Valerie Wolffenstein aus den Jahren 1891-1945 ,edited by Robert A. Kahn, Salzburg, 1981 is accessible in the library. Note that the 2 photographs of Eberhard Frowein are now catalogued with the Wiener Library photo archive.