Jenny Lea Renzer (later Jenny Holländer, 1910-1974) was born on 4 September 1910 in Berlin, Germany to Golde (born Chaja Golde Friedwald, 1865-1915) and Samuel David Renzer (born Samuel David Renzel, 1871-1914). By 1915 both of Jenny’s parents had died, and she went to live with her maternal aunt Reisel Anghouli (Rosa, 1873-1937). Reisel had two sons, Max (b. 1897) and Josef (1902-1943) who grew up with Jenny. Gerson Holländer was born on 15 October 1904 in the Podgórze district of Kraków, Poland to Selig and Amalia (b. 1872, née Goldschein) Holländer. He had at least one sister, Rebekka (later Rebekka Bretler, 1910-1942) and one brother, Isak (b. 1915). Jenny and Gerson married in 1930 in Berlin, and their daughter Gerda was born in 1932. By the mid-1930s, as persecution of Jews in Germany increased, they began to explore ways to emigrate. Jenny’s maternal uncle, Max Friedwald (1863-1937), who had previously immigrated to the United States and become a successful businessman in Montana, provided support for them. After his death in 1937, the executors of his estate continued his efforts, and Jenny, Gerson, and Gerda emigrated from Berlin in 1938. They settled in New York. Josef Anghouli was deported from Berlin to the Warsaw Ghetto where he perished in 1943. Gerson’s entire family was killed in the Holocaust except for his brother Isak.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Holländer family papers
The collection documents the pre-war lives of Gerson and Jenny Holländer and their daughter Gerda in Berlin, Germany and their immigration to the United States in 1938. Included are documents related to relatives, photographs, identification documents, marriage and death certificates, and immigration documents. The bulk of the correspondence is with Jenny’s uncle Max Friedwald in Montana; S. Frohman, Max’s executor of his estate; and Louis Melnick regarding their emigration from Germany.
The collection is arranged as three series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1889-1947; Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930s-1959; Series 3: Photographs, circa 1890-circa 1930