us-005578-irn515811
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Ernest Wachtel (1924-2016) was born on May 6, 1924 in Vienna, Austria to Sigmund (Shaye) and Sofie (Zusa, née Liss) Wachtel. His father, Sigmund Wachtel, was born in Galicia, Poland and settled in Vienna where he served as an officer in the German army during World War I. Sigmund purchased an apartment house in the third district and opened a retail store handling silk and lace in the second district. The family lived in a large rented apartment on Karmeliterplatz. Ernest attended the Sperlgasse Gymnasium. The Wachtel family attended a little shtiebel and Ernest had a Jewish education and bar mitzvah. When Ernest was thirteen, his father bought him a bicycle and Ernest would ride bicycles with his schoolmates. In 1938, Vienna was occupied by the Germans. During this time, his schoolmates pointed out the Watchel apartment to the SS and SA. Ernest and other Jews, men who had been wearing prayer shawls, were forced to use toothbrushes to scrub off the anti-Semitic slogans painted on the clock tower. A mob watched and taunted them. Sigmund closed his business and was forced to turn over the management of the apartment building to a Nazi appointed Kommissar. The family obtains affidavits of support from an Uncle living in the United States, but were unable to obtain visas. Sigmund obtained temporary visitor visas at the French Consul and the family traveled to France in first class on the French ship Normandie. The family was ordered to settle in an efficiency hotel at Bellefontaine #8 in Paris and then later in a small farmhouse in the small town of Vineuil near Chantilly. Sigmund was forced to register with the police daily. In July 1938, Ernest’s United State Visa was available and he traveled to New York alone. He lived with his uncle and aunt on 34th Street between Lexington and Second Avenue. He worked for his uncle, a dentist, cleaning dentist chairs and instruments earning $1-$2. He would attend the movies on 42nd Street as a way to learn English, and was also en…
has beginning date: 1943-01-01
has end date: 2012-12-31
has end date: 1945-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had subject: 137
has or had subject: 483
has or had subject: 43
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 904
has or had subject: 177
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn515811
record resource extent: folders 2
record resource structure: The Ernest Wachtel collection is arranged in two series. Series 1. Photographs, 1943-1945. Series 2. Biographical series, 2004-2012.
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Ernest Wachtel collection consists of 37 photographs depicting Ernest Wachtel, a Jewish Austrian refugee, and his experiences in the United States Army in Europe during World War II. The photographs also include liberation photographs of the Dachau concentration camp which include images of victims’ corpses, camp survivors, a building, and survivors viewed behind a barbed wire fence. There is also a set of group photographs which likely include the three survivors from the Dachau concentration cared for by Ernest, and other soldiers. The collection also includes articles regarding Ernest Wachtel’s emigration experiences, his work as a Ritchie Boy, and the 2012 Ritchie Boy reunion.
title: Ernest Wachtel collection