United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Leonard Lief, son of Abel and Feige Liwszyc, relocated from Warsaw to Montreal in 1929 or 1930 with his twin brother, who died of food poisoning shortly after. He moved to New York City by 1932. His parents remained in Warsaw with his sister Rejsla and brother Jozef. Other family members in Warsaw included sister-in-law Mina Liwszyc, nephews Motek Szkolnikow and Ryszard (Rysza) Liwszyc, niece Irena (Irka) Ryger, and her husband Dawid Ryger. All are believed to have been killed in the Holocaust. The family name is variously spelled Liwszyc, Livskitz, Livshitz, and Liwschitz, and Leonard changed it to Lief in America.
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The Leonard Lief correspondence is arranged as a single series: I. Leonard Lief correspondence, approximatley 1939-1947
The Leonard Lief correspondence consists of letters, postcards, forms, and receipts exchanged among Leonard Lief in New York, his family in Warsaw, and humanitarian agencies and organizations. The correspondence documents Lief’s efforts to assist his family during the early years of the Holocaust and to trace their whereabouts and fates afterwards. Correspondence from humanitarian agencies and organizations includes letters and postcards from the Red Cross, HIAS, Jewish Social Self Help, Central Committee of Polish Jews, and American State Department transmitting requests, facilitating the delivery of money and food packages, and trying to trace the Liwszyc family. Correspondence from Leonard Lief to his family in Warsaw, to aid agencies, and to relatives and survivors include letters, Red Cross inquiry forms, receipts for money and packages, and requests for news that document Lief’s efforts to find and aid his family. Correspondence from Abel Liwszyc and his family in Warsaw to Leonard Lief includes letters, postcards, and HIAS inquiry forms describing conditions in the Warsaw ghetto and requesting aid.
Leonard Lief correspondence