us-005578-irn522823
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Josef Eliezer Horowitz is the son of Chaim Leib Horowitz, a rubber stamp engraver, and Fela Leser Horowitz. Josef was born on December 17, 1925 in Krakow, and his younger sister Dola was born on July 4, 1929. After the German occupation of Poland the extended family was incarcerated in the Krakow ghetto. In 1941 half of the family, managed to relocate to the Bochnia ghetto, while Josef's immediate family remained in Krakow. Chaim continued his work manufacturing rubber stamps assisted by Josef. In June 1942, the Germans conducted an"Aktio" in the Krakow ghetto deporting some 6,000 Jews to the Belzec extermination camp including Josef's grandfather, Izaak Horowitz. Sometime in the winter 1942/1943 two Jewish men arrived in Chaim's store. They had a sample of a Notary Public certified copy of an American affidavit, sent many years before the war, from the US to Poland. In addition they had an American typewriter and three sheets of foreign made paper. They asked Chaim to prepare an embossed stamp of an American notary public. He agreed to manufacture two from New York for the two men, as well as a third for his family from Philadelphia. The Horowitz affidavit allegedly was sent from Izaak Horowitz (who in reality had been already killed in Belzec) to his wife and children, so they could join him. They used the real address of Izaak's brother, who indeed had immigrated to Philadelphia many years before. The paper had to appear old, as if it was written in 1905 and confirmed in 1921 by a Notary Public in the US. This document was translated into German, and a Polish translator and a Notary Public confirmed that the translation was accurate; this provided the document's first authentic stamp. The document was then sent to a German court which approved the notary public's stamp. Josef finally obtained a Gestapo stamp of approval. The approval documents included a statement that the bearers were foreign citizens. As a result, Josef's family was spared the deportations from…
has beginning date: 1925-01-01
has end date: 1948-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 42
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn522823
record resource extent: folder 1
record resource structure: The collection is arranged in a single folder
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The papers consist of documents and photographs relating to the experiences of the Horowitz family in Krakow before World War II, and their experiences in the Krakow ghetto and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during World War II. Also included are documents and photographs relating to their experiences in Belgium after liberation.
title: Josef Horowitz papers