Hannes family letters and postcards

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Berthold Hannes (b. 1882) married Luise Eugenie Meyer (b. 1896) in 1919 in Hamburg, Germany. They had two daughters: Lieselotte (later Lieselotte “Lilo” Rosenmeyer, 1920-2006) and Ruth (later Ruth Hannes Doswald, b. 1928). Berthold was a doctor practicing in Hamburg. During the Holocaust, Lieselotte and Ruth were refugees in England while their parents remained in Hamburg. Lieselotte immigrated to the United States in 1947 and married Thomas Gustav Rosenmeyer in 1951. Ruth immigrated to the United States in 1953 and married Herman K. Doswald. 

Hannes family letters and postcards 

folder 1 

The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of the Hannes family, originally of Hamburg, Germany. Included are five German Red Cross letters, dated from March 1943 to October 1944 from Luise Eugenie Hannes to her daughters Ruth (later Ruth Hannes Doswald) and Lieselotte (later Lieselotte E. Rosenmeyer), both of whom fled Hamburg to England. Her daughters’ responses are on the reverse of each letter. Also included are seven postcards addressed to Luise’s husband Dr. Berthold Hannes from former patients imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The postcards date from December 1943 to September 1944. 

The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Deutsches Rotes Kreuz letters, 1943 Mar. 15-1944 October 16 Series 2. Postcards from Theresienstadt, 1943 Dec. 13-1944 September 9 Folders are arranged alphabetically and documents are arranged chronologically.