United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Christine Hinsel (1878-1951) was born Christine Marcus in Lüneburg. Her husband, Clemens Hinsel (1880-1941) was a Catholic banker and World War I veteran. The couple had two daughters: Edeltraut Hinsel (b. 1913) and Maria Hinsel Leandrin (b. 1915), who was married to Alfred Leandrin. She was deported to Theresienstadt on January 22, 1944 and survived the war. Her sister Gertrud Marcus Simon (b. 1894), brother in law Bruno Simon (b. 1892), and daughters also survived.
boxes oversize folders 2 2
The Hinsel family papers are arranged as five series: I. Biographical materials, 1910-1959, II. Correspondence, 1906-1955, III. Photographs, approximately 1910-1960, IV. Printed materials, 1904-1950, V. World War I diaries, 1916-1918
The Hinsel family papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and World War I diaries documenting the Hinsel family in Lüneburg, their relatives in Lüneburg and Hamburg, Hinsel and Leandrin family members’ military service during World War I, and Christine Hinsel’s survival in Theresienstadt during the Holocaust. Biographical materials include death announcements, ration cards, and business cards documenting Christine and Clemens Hinsel, their daughters, and other relatives. This series also includes a list of residents at Gertrud and Bruno Simon’s address listing Bruno Simon as air protection warden. Correspondence primarily consists of letters and postcards exchanged between Christine Hinsel and her relatives during World War II and during her imprisonment at Theresienstadt. This series also includes correspondence between Edeltraut Hinsel and Maria Leandrin, congratulatory notes on the birth and marriage of Maria Leandrin, and condolences on the death of Clemens and Christine Hinsel. A couple of letters date from Clemens Hinsel’s World War I service. Photographs depict Hinsel and Leandrin family members and friends before, during, and after World War II in Lüneburg, Hamburg, Adendorf, Celle, Osnabrück, Halle, and Essen-Borbeck-Mitte as well as relatives who immigrated to Seattle. This series also include photographs and photographic postcards documenting the World War I military service of members of the Leandrin family as well as photographs of a Leandrin family home in Lüneburg. Printed materials include early twentieth-century stock and bond certificates, a German cookbook, a meal-planning guide, booklets from the Wilhelm Raabe Schule in Lüneburg, clippings about the rights of children of mixed parents in Nazi Germany, an aerial target map of Hamburg, and a brochure about kibbutzim. Three diaries document Clemens Hinsel’s military service during World War I and include name lists, poems, notes, rations, movements, and descriptions of daily events.
Hinsel family papers