us-005578-irn538541-irn560710
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Peter Aldin was born Peter Sigo Abendstern on 29 October 1932 in Schwerin, Germany to Otto and Elly Abendstern. His father Otto Abendstern (1904-1942) was born on 5 November 1904 in Stuttgart, Germany to Samuel (d. 1923) and Regina (née Pappenheimer, b. 1881) Abendstern. He had one brother, Martin. Otto worked for Adler and Oppenheimer, a leading leather manufacturer, as did his father. His mother Elly Abendstern (later Elly Abendstern Fleischmann, 1902-1999) was born Elly Meyerhoff on 22 March 1902 in Körbecke, Germany to Max and Henriette (Henny) Meyerhoff. She had one brother, Ernst. Elly’s father owned a farm where he raised cattle and worked as a butcher. Otto and Elly met around New Year’s Eve, 1929. They married in 1931, and their son Peter was born in 1932 in Schwerin. In April 1933 the family left Schwerin briefly for Berlin before moving to Hamburg where Otto could continue working for Adler and Oppenheimer. In March 1938 they emigrated from Germany to Wiltz, Luxembourg where Otto’s employer also had a factory. Elly’s parents Henriette and Max Meyerhoff joined them there. Otto’s brother Martin immigrated to England with his wife Hanna and their sons Robert and George. Martin also worked for Adler and Oppenheimer. Otto was in Brussels, Belgium on a business trip when Germany invaded in May 1940. He was arrested and sent to St. Cyprien and Gurs. In May 1941 he was transferred to Les Milles. After Elly and Peter learned about his arrest and internment in France, they moved to Graulhet, Tarn in southern France. Elly hoped that Otto’s employer, who had an office in Graulhet, would help support her. She was able to visit Otto at Les Milles. Otto was interned in seven concentration camps including Les Milles, St. Cyprien, Gurs, and Drancy. He was deported to Auschwitz in August 1942 where he perished. While in the camps, he wrote many letters to his brother Martin in England. In August 1942, Elly sent Peter to a children’s home in Font-Romeu in the Pyrénées where…
conditions of use: Copyright Holder: Dr. Peter Aldin
date: circa 1880-2016
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 162
has or had subject: 904
has or had subject: 843
has or had subject: 686
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn560710
is or was included in: us-005578-irn538541
record resource extent: boxes book enclosure oversize box 3 1 1
record resource structure: The collection is arranged as four series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1904-2016 Series 2. Correspondence, 1938-1979 Series 3. Writings, 1944-2016 Series 4. Photographs, circa 1880-circa 1997 Folders are arranged alphabetically and documents are arranged chronologically.
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The collection primarily consists of correspondence, photographs, and documents relating to the family of Elly (née Meyerhoff) and Otto Abendstern, their son Peter Abendstern (later Peter Aldin), and Elly's second husband Adolf Richard Fleischmann. It documents Otto's internment in several camps in southern France, Elly and Peter's survival in France during the war in Graulhet and Font-Romeu, and Adolf's internment at Les Milles Camp and Saint Nicolas in southern France. Included are birth and marriage certificates, immigration and travel documents, family correspondence, pre-war, wartime, and post-war photographs, and Peter Aldin's memoir. Biographical material includes birth and marriage certificates, passports, immigration and travel documents, refugee paperwork, education papers, and CVs. Other material includes false identification cards of Elly used in Graulhet to live under the name Eléonore Albert (née Miller), an Abendstern family album (Stammbuch), wartime documents related to Peter living as a hidden child in Font-Romeu, copies of wartime documents related to Adolf, and papers related to Adolf’s art career. Correspondence primarily consists of wartime and post-war family letters. Wartime correspondence includes letters exchanged between Otto and his family while he was imprisoned in several camps, Elly and her son Peter while they were separated, and Elly with Suzanne Canard, who helped her son Peter hide in Font-Romeu. Postwar correspondence includes letters to Elly from Marty André, who provided her with shelter in Graulhet. Writings include notes written by Elly, and poems and a personal narrative authored by Peter. Pre-war photographs include depictions of the extended Abendstern and Meyerhoff families in Germany, and the Abendstern family in Wiltz, Luxembourg. Wartime photographs include depictions from two children’s homes in Font-Romeu where Peter survived as a hidden child, and Graulhet, France. Post-war photographs include depictions of André Mar…
title: Abendstern, Fleischmann, and Meyerhoff families papers