us-005578-irn34671-irn35939
type: RecordSet
archival history: The book was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Steven W. Simon.
biographical history: Steven W. Simon was born on January 22, 1932, to Arthur L., born 1896, and Irma R. Sostmann Simon in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His family immigrated to Paris, France, in March 1934. Arthur established two businesses: a faux leather and crystal import business and a specialty confectioner packaging company that featured folkloric and holiday designs created by Arthur. Steven’s maternal uncle, Kurt Sostmann, born June 22, 1904, in Mannheim, and his wife, Erna, arrived from Germany and settled nearby. Arthur applied for United States visas in 1938. His parents, Sigmund, born 1853, and Recha, born 1872, and his sister, Irma, a fashion designer and seamstress, arrived in Paris in March 1939 and lived with Arthur and his family. When World War II began in September 1939, the Simons were on vacation in La Bourboule. French officials requisitioned their car for the French army and interned Arthur Simon as an enemy alien. Steven and his mother were stranded because they did not have the special permits that non-citizens now needed to travel. They finally received permission to return home to Paris in December. The following month, January 1940, Irma sent Steven to a Quaker boarding home, Moulin de la Ferriere, in Noce, Normandy, to escape the German bombing of Paris. In early May, she retrieved him because she had to present him to the police to avoid being interned herself. On June 14, 1940, the Germans occupied Paris. Arthur was in the Les Milles camp and he volunteered for the French Foreign Legion. Since he was now in poor health, he failed his physical exam, but the French released him from the camp on August 30, 1940. He returned to his family in Paris and tried to continue his business, though his partners and staff had been arrested or disappeared and he was not permitted to travel to visit clients or to obtain stock. On August 6, 1941, the business was confiscated and its assets transferred to the Germans. In September 1941, the family hired a guide to take them t…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Book; color illustrations; 64 cm.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1945-01-01
has end date: 1945-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn35939
is or was included in: us-005578-irn34671
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Book by Theophile Gautier, awarded to Steven Simon as a prize from the Lycee Condorcet in 1945 for making the honor roll in English, history and geography. Steven and his parents, Arthur and Irma Simon, were Jewish German immigrants living in Paris, France, when it was occupied by Germany in 1940. They fled to the unoccupied southern region where they survived the war by adopting false identities. They returned to Paris after liberation in 1944 and emigrated to the United States in 1947.
title: Book