United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Bernard Frum (b. Bernhard, 1914-1975) was born in Berlin, Germany to Gershon (1878-c.1944) and Lea Frum (née Polinkowsky, 1877-c.1944) and had two brothers, Alexander and Edward. In 1939 Bernard fled Germany for Shanghai, China. His wife, Lucy (also Lucie, née Herrmann, 1906-c.1996) who was not Jewish, joined Bernard a couple of months later and they married in Shanghai in 1939. Bernard’s brother, Alexander, lived in the United States and helped sponsor Bernard and Lucy’s immigration to America. In 1946, Bernard was granted a medical visa and Lucy was granted permission to come with him. Both of Bernard’s parents perished during the war.
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The Bernard Frum papers are arranged as a single series.
The collection, spanning 1939-1992, consists of one memoir and a diary chiefly documenting life in France leading to and including war. The memoir of Renée de Monbrison (September 1939 to August 1944) is a bound copy typed in French. Entries describe time spent in Biarritz, an arrest in Hossegor, plans of fleeing to England, and her attempts to save her aunt, Loulou Warshawsky, from a camp near Tours. The memoir also includes copies of letters, documents, clippings, and post-war writings. Also included in the collection is one memoir typed in English by Colette Cahen d'Anvers Moore, entitled"Eight Years of a Life" Entries include memories of her activities in the French Resistance, arrest, and yearlong imprisonment in La Santé prison, transfer to Fresnes prison, deportation to Drancy, forced labor in Paris, her escape from a bus, and the liberation of Paris by the American Army. Biographical materials include a marriage certificate, curriculum vitae, and a resident card from Shanghai. Correspondence consists mainly of wartime letters from Bernard’s parents to Bernard about life in Germany and Shanghai, asking about their son, Alexander, updating Bernard on their effort to leave Germany, information on friends and family, and requests for permits to Shanghai after they were forced to leave Germany as well as several letters from Bernard to his parents about his health and wellbeing. This series also includes a post-war letter from his brother, Alexander, about the fate of their family and friends during the Holocaust, worries about Bernhard’s health, and offers to bring Bernhard to the United States. The diary, written by Bernard (Bernhard) and Lucy (Lucie) Frum, includes personal struggles, goals, and ideas as well as their political ideas for re-building Germany and re-structuring the government after the war, Bernard’s attempts to explain himself to his wife and her answers, a short description of his parents' personalities, and a description of the day Bernard and Lucy were due to arrive in Shanghai. Primarily written by Bernard, the diary describes the couple’s time in Shanghai 1942-1943; also includes an entry from July 31, 1939. The diary begins in November 1942 with Bernard writing of his goal to leave Shanghai. Immigration material includes applications, correspondence from the American Consulate regarding their application status, and a document describing the immigration of Bernard and Lucy. Pre-war documents include letters from the Reichs Music Chamber informing Bernard of the condition of members for German composers and of his expulsion from the organization, an application for the enrollment of non-Aryans into the “Reichsmusikerschaft,” an order for Bernard to attend a military inspection, and a document indicating the Frum family’s legal position regarding their common property.
Bernard Frum papers