United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Saul Sorrin (1919-1995) was recruited to work for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Sorrin initially worked as a supply officer based at the Neu Freimann camp outside of Munich before becoming area director of the Munich region in 1946. He oversaw the closing of the Neu Freimann camp when UNRRA transferred its operation to the International Refugee Organization (IRO) in 1947. As area director for the IRO, he took over responsibility for the Föhrenwald DP camp and the Geretsried transit camp and, later, the Feldafing camp. He returned to the United States in 1950 where he settled in Milwaukee.
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The Saul Sorrin papers are arranged as two series: I. Correspondence, 1945-1949, II. Photographs, approximately 1945-1950
The Saul Sorrin papers measure 0.5 linear foot and date from approximately 1945‐1950. The collection contains correspondence and photographs documenting Sorrin’s work as United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) director and field supervisor of displaced persons camps in the American occupied zone of Germany from 1945 to 1950. Camps covered in the collection include Neu Freimann, Föhrenwald, and Geretsried. Sorrin's work involved traveling among the camps to discuss with UNRRA staff and camp administrators problems related to food, housing, education, health, and immigration. He also held office hours for camp residents who needed help with problems related to things like illness, immigration, and black market activities. Sorrin frequently visited military courts in Munich to mitigate punishments for offenses committed by Jewish DPs. For a time he also served as a judge on an internal, Jewish DP court in Neu Freimann adjudicating cases between Jews. Correspondence in the collection relates to camp administration and supplies, immigration, military occupation, aid organizations, military and camp courts, education, and training. Photographs depict the camps and camp life at Neu Freimann and Föhrenwald, Saul Sorrin, General Eisenhower, UNRRA Director Fiorello LaGuardia, and the Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Isaac Herzog.
Saul Sorrin papers