United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Hans (Peter) Garfunkel was born in Koenigsberg, East Prussia on Apr. 21, 1924, to Julius and Paula Lonky Garfunkel. On Jan. 30, 1939, he escaped to Brussels, Belgium on a Kindertransport, and lived in an orphanage there until May 14, 1940, when he escaped to France after the German invasion of Belgium. On Aug. 26, 1942, Hans was arrested by the Vichy police and taken to Le Vernet, where he was liberated due to the influence of Maurice Du Bois, the Quaker head of the Secours Suisse aux Enfants in Toulouse. Hans escaped to Switzerland on Dec. 25, 1942, and, after the war, emigrated first to Brazil in 1946, then to the United States in 1947. He met and married Ilse Garfunkel, and has one daughter and three grandsons. His father died in Berlin on Apr. 1, 1942, and his mother was deported to Auschwitz on Aug. 15, 1942, and was killed there.
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Consists of letters written to Bessie Silberman, in Chicago, IL, from Hans Garfunkel, as Hans was trying to obtain the visas and affidavits necessary to emigrate to the United States (in English and French); letters written to Hans Garfunkel from his parents in Germany (in German); report cards and other academic paperwork for Hans Garfunkel; and telegrams and consular correspondence regarding Hans Garfunkel's visa requests. Also consists of 12 pre-war and wartime photographs of the family and friends of Hans Garfunkel.
Hans Garfunkel collection