Carl Heinz Rosner (born Karl Heinz Rosner, 1929-) was born on 4 April 1929 in Hamburg, Germany to David and Rachel (née Hausner) Rosner. He had two brothers, Elliot Helmut and Joseph Wolfgang. David and Rachel married in 1928, and co-owned a bedding business. His family had all planned on immigrating to Palestine, beginning with his grandparents in 1934. Carl’s parents divorced around 1935, and David returned to Romania, where he was born and had citizenship. Rachel sent Elliot on a Kindertransport to Sweden around 1937, and she followed by 1939. In 1937, Carl and Joseph were sent to a Jewish orphanage in Hamburg. The orphanage was liquidated in 1942, but they were spared deportation due to their Romanian citizenship related to their father. They were able to get shelter and aid from the Seinfeld family, who were in a mixed marriage, and lived nearby. Carl and Joseph lived in a retirement home in the area, and worked in the kitchen. They moved with the Seinfelds to a hospital after their neighborhood was destroyed in air raids. They remained there until Carl and Joseph were deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp in June 1944. After the camp was liberated in 1945, they went back to Hamburg for a few weeks. They then were able to go to a displaced person’s camp in Denmark, and then to Stockholm, Sweden where they were reunited with their mother and brother Elliot. Carl began studying engineering, and also met Frieda Zeidshnur, who was also a Jewish refugee. They married in Israel in 1948, and briefly lived in Haifa before immigrating to the United States in 1952. They settled in Schenectady, New York where Carl worked for General Electric. Frieda worked with helping resettle Russian immigrants and was a substitute teacher in a Hebrew school. They have two daughters, Elizabeth and Monica, and one son, Raphael. Frieda Rosner (née Fryda Zeidshnur, 1930-2000) was born on 4 July 1930 in Wilno, Poland (modern day Vilnius, Lithuania) to Zelman (1895-1960) and Judith (née Elkind, 1896-1984?) Zeidshnur. Frieda’s mother was a doctor, and her father co-owned a wholesale clothing business with his family. In 1941, they were sent to the Wilno ghetto. Judith was able to arrange for Frieda to escape the ghetto, and she was hidden by a Christian family with a farm. Her parents were also able to escape, and they joined Frieda on the farm. They remained hidden there for the duration of the war, periodically paying the farmer with valuables Zelman had hidden near their home. After the war, the Zeidshnurs returned to Wilno, but found no relatives. They then went to Kaunas, Lithuania in hopes of finding relatives, but were not successful. After encountering difficulties and continued anti-Semitism, they were able to move to Stockholm, Sweden. Judith and Zelman immigrated to the United States in 1951, and settled in Newark, New Jersey.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
box oversize boxes 1 2
The collection has been arranged as three series. Biographical materials, 1924-2010; Correspondence, 1944; 1955; Photographs, 1920-1955. Each series is arranged alphabetically by folder title. The correspondence of Jacob Ettlinger has been removed from the binder, but retains his arrangement.
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Carl Heinz Rosner of Hamburg, Germany including his stay at a Jewish orphanage from 1937-1942; the deportation Rosner and his brother Joseph to the Buchenwald concentration camp; and his life as a post-war refugee in Stockholm, Sweden. The collection also includes a small amount of material related to the experiences of his wife Frieda Rosner and her parents Zelman and Judith Zeidshnur of Wilno, Poland (modern day Vilnius, Lithuania). Included are biographical materials such as passports, naturalization certificates, birth certificates, and wedding certificates; wartime correspondence of Jacob Ettlinger, a German Jew living in Stockholm who worked with several aid organizations and assisted Jewish refugees, including Carl and his mother Rachel Rosner; and photographs that depict pre-war lives of the Rosner and Zeidshnur families, Carl and his brother Joseph’s time at the orphanage, and post-war life in Haifa, Israel. Also included is Frieda Rosner’s autograph book from post-war Łódź, Poland. The correspondence of Jacob Ettlinger contains letters sent and received in 1944. The correspondents include family members, refugees, Jews in concentration camps, and aid organizations. There is correspondence with Carl Rosner prior to his deportation to Buchenwald. There is also correspondence with the Seinfeld family regarding Carl and his brother’s deportation to Buchenwald, and whether or not to inform their mother Rachel Rosner because of her mental health at the time. The letters are arranged alphabetically. A: Abel, Isidore; Aktiebolagst Aerotransport; American Legation in Stockholm; Anderson, Ludwig; Anderson, Alfred; Andersson, David; Auerbach, Marta, Auerbach, Philipp. B: Baer, J.F.; Bamberger, Rechy; Berlas, Chaim, Barth, Otto; Benzian, Silvia; Bergman, Dick; Bergstein, T.; Berlinger, E. [Rabbi]; Bindefeld, A.; Bodenheimer, E.L.; Bromma Judiska Försammling; Bulka, Paul; Buren, Irvin; Böyesen, Svein. C: Centrala Hjälpkomittén för Leningrads Barn; Centralpostkontoret; Cohn, Arnold; Cohn, Georg; Cohn, Paula. D: Danska Förläggningen; David, Albert; Diefenbronner, Elsa; Diefenbronner, Erich; Diefenbronner, Hermann. E: Emanuel, Jacob; Emigranternas Siälvhjälp; Ettlinger, Erna; Ettlinger, Helene; Ettlinger, Leo; Ettlinger, Maier. F: Feist, Edwin; Feist, Mrs. Philippe; Fischhoff, Franz; Fleischman, Paul; Fleischman, Rebecka; American Jewish Congress regarding Max Friediger; Fürth, Hildegard. G: Goldberger, Franz; Goldschmidt, Victor; Goldstein, Heimann; Gordon and Tankus; Gorgéns electrical company; Grünberg, A.; Grünstein, Mrs. S.; Grönblom, Berndt. H: Haitkin, Sam; HEROS Handels AB; Hirsch, Bernard; Hirsch, Frank; Hollander, Arthur; Hollander, Fritz; Horovitz, Leo; Hultsfora Sanatorium; Hüttner, Julius. I: Ischenhäuser, Elias; Ischenhäuser, Rachel; Igell, Nissen; International Red Cross. J: Jacobsson, A.J.; Jacobson, Wolf; Jacoby, Käthe; Jaffe, Moses; Josephson, Gunnar.
Carl Heinz Rosner papers