1 box
Ilse Frankenbusch collection
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Ilse Frankenbusch was born in Unter Polaun in 1915, the second daughter of Rudolf Frankenbusch and Hulde Kohn. The couple were converts from Judaism to Protestantism. After Rudolf and Hulde divorced, Ilse remained with her mother and they lived in Vienna. To escape Nazi rule Ilse and Hulde both emigrated- Ilse to England and Hulde to France. Ilse’s father also escaped to England. Despite Ilse’s efforts to help, Hulda was eventually captured and killed at Auschwitz in 1944, and Ilse’s grandmother Gisela Kerber, who had remained in Vienna, was killed in 1942 at Riga.
The collection consists of correspondence, along with some family papers, of the Frankenbusch family. Most of the correspondence is between Ilse, her mother Hulde and grandmother Gisela, while they were living in separate countries during the Second World War. Correspondence also documents Ilse’s attempts to send financial aid to her mother after the surrender of France.