The collection documents the experiences of the Weil family of Mannheim, Germany during the Holocaust. Included is wartime correspondence from Max, Elfriede, Arno, and Ilse Weil in the Rivesaltes internment camp to Anne Weil (later Anne Wascou), who immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1938 on the MS. St. Louis; wartime and post-war correspondence of Anne trying to locate and learn the fate of her family; and restitution paperwork. The photographs depict pre-war family life, Anne Weil onboard the MS. St. Louis, and a photograph album of Anne’s that depicts life in Mannheim and the United States.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Annelise Franziska Weil (later Anne Wascou, 1921-2011) was born on 23 August 1921 in Karlsruhe, Germany to Elfriede (née Meyer, born in Mannheim, Germany, 1886-1942) and Max (born in Eichstätten, Germany, 1888-1942) Weil. She had one brother, Arno (1923-1945) and one sister, Ilse (1922-1942), both of whom were born in Mannheim. On 17 September 1938, Anne sailed from Hamburg to New York on board the MS St. Louis. On 22 October 1940 Anne’s parents were arrested in Mannheim and sent to the Gurs concentration camp in France, and transferred to the Rivesaltes internment camp by 1941. On 11 August 1942 they were transferred to the Drancy transit camp and then deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they perished. Anne’s brother Arno was deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp where he perished on 19 February 1945. Anne’s sister Ilse was arrested in Berlin on 14 December 1942 and deported to Auschwitz where she perished. Anne met and married Albert Wascou (d. 1980) and they settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They had two daughters, Marilyn and Ellen. Anne died at age 90 on 13 November 2011.
box 1
The collection is arranged as one series.
Weil family papers