us-005578-irn47292-irn531153
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47292
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1939-01-01
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47292-irn531153/acquisitions/1
scope and content: Small, illustrated children’s songbook taken with Nellie Wiesenthal when she immigrated to the United States in January 1939, from Berlin, Germany, via Switzerland and France. The booklet was published in Berlin, on February 15, 1891, and printed by Julius Sittenfeld. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. Following the passage of the Nuremberg laws in 1935, Nellie’s father, Fritz, began looking for places where the family could immigrate as life became increasingly difficult. Later that year, Fritz, a doctor, and Nellie’s mother, Gertrude, sent her older sister, Illa, to boarding school in England. When Nellie was no longer allowed to attend public school, she moved into her paternal grandmother Ernestine’s home and attended a local Jewish school. In 1938, Fritz left for the US in order to begin studying for the medical boards he needed to pass in order to practice medicine there. He sent for Illa in August, and in September, Nellie, went to Switzerland with her paternal aunt Helene and three cousins. When her aunt’s family left to wait for their American visas in Cuba, Nellie was taken to a children’s home in Lucerne, until a family friend could escort her to France. Once in Cherbourg, Nellie boarded the SS Deutschland, and arrived in New York City in January 1939. Gertrude arrived in March. Later that year, Ernestine traveled to London, England, to wait for her American visa. In the fall of 1942, Ernestine traveled to the US in a Greek convoy.
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/993
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Book; 12 p.; ill.; 13.5 cm. Thin booklet of rhyming song lyrics or poetry printed in Fraktur style font in black ink with red highlights on tan paper sheets, and held together at the spine with two metal staples. Each page has a decorative border framing the text, and there are simple black illustrations on half of the pages. The corners are folded, the pages are discolored, and the lower spine is beginning to tear.
record resource extent: overall: Height: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm) | Width: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm)
type: RecordSet
date: 1891 February 15
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1939-12-31
has or had some members with language: deu
identifier: irn531153
history: The songbook was donated the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Nellie Fink.
has or had holder: us-005578
has record set type: Item
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47292-irn531153/alternateIDs/1
title: Children’s Songs for Two Little Ones Children’s songbook brought with a German Jewish prewar refugee
history: Nellie Wiesenthal (b. 1930, later Fink) was born in Berlin, Germany, to father, Fritz (1893-?) and Gertrude Loewenberg (1898-1986) Wiesenthal. Both sides of her family were assimilated and had lived in Berlin for several generations. Her father was a medical doctor, like his father, Otto (1859-1930), and grandfather, and specialized in Ophthalmology. His mother, Ernestine (1873-1947, née Unger) stayed at home. The family had an estate, Cartlow, several hours from Berlin where they often went for vacations. Gertrude’s father, Caesar, had been in the import-export business. He died young, and Gertrude’s mother, Anna, later married Josef Lehman. Nellie had one older sister, Illa (b. 1921, later Ilse). Their mother, Gertrude, suffered from an obsessive compulsive neurosis that made her fear she might get her children sick because she thought that she was carrying diseases like polio, meningitis, and scarlet fever. This condition controlled much of her life, and she often spent her days washing and cleaning items repetitively. She was often away in sanatoriums due to her condition, and when Nellie was very young, her mother began living apart from the family. In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, and by that spring, anti-Jewish legislation was in effect. The Nuremburg laws were enacted in 1935, and life for Jews in Germany became extremely difficult and dangerous. That year, Nellie’s father, Fritz, and grandmother, Ernestine, took a trip to Palestine in search of a safe place to live. Eventually, Fritz decided that it would be better to resettle in the United States because they had family there. In 1935, Illa was sent to boarding school in England. In 1936, Nellie was forced out of public school and enrolled in the Goldschmidt School near her grandmother’s house, so she went to live with her. German insurance and social security payments to Jews were no longer authorized, which sent her father’s medical practice into decline. Eventually, Jews were no longer able to …