Gerstle and Levi family collection

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Sofie Gerstle (née Schwarz, 1871-1944) was married to Nathan Gerstle, who worked as a horse dealer. They had two sons: David (b. 1894) and Gustav (1897-1941). Sofie and Nathan raised their sons in Ichenhausen, Germany. During the Holocaust Sofie and Gustav attempted to emigrate from Stuttgart, Germany with the aid of relatives in the United States but were unsuccessful. Sofie was deported Theresienstadt in 1942 and then Auschwitz where she perished in 1944. Gustav was deported to Kaunas, Lithuania in November 1941 where he was killed. 

Gerstle and Levi family collection 

folder 1 

The collection primarily consists of letters and documents regarding attempts to assist Sofie Gerstle and her son Gustav Gerstle emigrate from Stuttgart, Germany to the United States via Cuba in 1941. Also included is paperwork regarding Oskar Gerstle’s emigration from Munich, Germany to the United States, and Julius Gerstle’s application for citizenship. Includes correspondence with the State Department's Visa Division and details about the family's arrangements to secure ship tickets. Although Sophie and Gustav successfully gathered all the necessary paperwork to immigrate, the American consulate in Munich had closed before they were able to successfully leave Germany; both perished in the Holocaust. Also includes restitution paperwork and documents regarding the Levi family (Sofi's daughter Emma married Oscar Levi before the war), and a copy of the Gerstle/Levi family tree.