us-005578-irn510333-irn512291
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Sven Sonnenberg was born in Grudziadz, Poland, on October 17, 1931 to a Jewish father, Martin Sonnenberg, and a non-Jewish, German mother, Louise Theophil. He had a brother and a younger sister, Sylvia, who was born on October 20, 1934. Martin Nathan Sonnenberg was born in 1897 and served in the German Army during World War I. During his military service he was wounded and hospitalized in Königsberg, East Prussia. Louise was his nurse. They married in 1918 despite the dissatisfaction of Martin’s family. Louise and Martin lived in Jablonowo, Poland where the Sonnenberg family business was located. All members of the family worked in the business. Martin worked as an accountant and salesman in the wholesale of grain, lumber and other building materials. His mother, Laura Sonnenberg, and his three brothers, Alfred, Magnus, and Ari, all worked together. The Sonnenberg family spoke German at home. Martin and Louise lived in a small house in the vicinity of the larger house where the rest of the family resided. In 1939, during the German invasion, the Sonnenberg family escaped Jablonowo towards the Southeast of Poland. Martin was arrested by the advancing German Army and was imprisoned in Brodnica. He was released after a few days, and the family returned to their hometown of Jablonowo. The Germans confiscated the Sonnenberg family’s two houses. At the end of September 1939 the Jews of Jablonowo were transferred to Dzialdowo and after a few weeks, in November 1939, to Plock, Poland. At first they lived in a rented apartment on Krolewska Street, but after the establishment of the ghetto in Plock they were forced to move to Szeroka Street. For the next year and a half the Sonnenbergs lived in Plock. Sven’s mother did not have to stay in the ghetto since she was a non-Jewish German, but she never considered abandoning her husband and children. During February and March 1941, six transports of Jews from Plock arrived in Radom District. The Sonnenberg family was transferred to…
has beginning date: 1948-01-01
has end date: 1964-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn512291
is or was included in: us-005578-irn510333
record resource extent: folder 1
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: One photograph of Elisabeth Sonnenberg donor's wife dated October 8, 1964, in Warsaw, Poland, and one photograph of Sven and Sylvia Sonnenberg at an orphanage in Helenówek, Poland, circa 1948.
title: Sven Sonnenberg papers