us-005578-irn607878-irn610306
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Rachel Blair Greene (later Rottersman, 1908-1993) was born in Seattle, Washington, to William (1874-1947) and Ada (nee Prall, 1877-1929) Greene. Rachel had three brothers, George (1907-1979), Robert (1912-1993), and William, Jr. (1917-2012). William was a lawyer, and the family lived in a large home. They employed a housekeeper, and owned a local movie theater. At age 12, Rachel and a friend began helping care for children from a local orphanage, and gave clothing to a classmate whose family had recently immigrated to the United States. When Rachel was 14, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while traveling on the east coast, and Rachel took over as the primary caregiver for her brothers. In 1926, Rachel enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle, and focused on premedical studies at her father’s insistence. During Rachel’s third year, her mother died, leading Rachel to drop out of school. In 1931, Rachel joined a government relief organization, a step that aligned with her teenage dream of becoming a social worker. After multiple federal and state assignments, she resigned in early 1936 and reenrolled at the University of Washington, graduating in December 1936. The following month, she began attending the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. After completing qualifying exams for her Ph.D., Rachel became an assistant professor in social welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. In October 1944, Rachel joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). After a few months of training, she sailed for Europe and arrived in England in January 1945. Her first assignment was to aid arrivals as part of Team 18 at a displaced persons (DP) camp in Kirchberg, Germany. Rachel then worked at Baumholder DP camp, where she assisted in the repatriation of over 20,000 refugees to their home countries. She also helped combat a typhoid epidemic in the camp. After the camp was closed, Rachel was assign…
conditions of use: Copyright Holder: Mr. John B. Rottersman
has beginning date: 1944-01-01
has beginning date: 1936-01-01
has end date: 1949-12-31
has end date: 2015-12-31
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: deu
has or had subject: 001704
has or had subject: 530
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn610306
is or was included in: us-005578-irn607878
record resource extent: boxes 11
record resource structure: The Rachel Greene Rottersman papers are arranged as six series: I. Biographical materials, 1936-2015 (bulk 1936-1948), II. Correspondence, 1944-1990, III. Memoirs, approximately 1977-1982, IV. Photographic materials, approximately 1945-1949, V. Printed materials, 1937-1993, and VI. Reports, approximately 1940-1966
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Rachel Greene Rottersman papers consist of biographical materials about Rottersman’s UNRRA career; correspondence and reports about the children’s home at Aglasterhausen; notes and drafts for the memoirs Rottersman never completed; photographs of children and employees at Aglasterhausen; and printed materials about UNRRA’s work with displaced children. Biographical materials include student records, UNRRA and IRO (International Relief Organization) personnel records, and resumes for Rachel Rottersman and immigration application paperwork for Joseph Rottersman. This series also includes biographies of Rachel Rottersman prepared by Tommy Thompson and John Blair Rottersman. Correspondence consists of postwar letters documenting Rottersman’s work with UNRRA, displaced children, and the Aglasterhausen home as well as follow up correspondence from later decades with former Aglasterhausen staff and children. Postwar correspondence includes a copy of Rottersman’s “diary,” which was actually periodic correspondence without specific addressee that describes Rottersman’s life in Germany, work with UNRRA, and the Aglasterhausen children’s home in great detail. It appears as though these “diary” letters were intended to be circulated among Rottersman’s family and friends. Postwar correspondence also includes Rottersman’s letters to her father, which often duplicate the “diary” letters but intersperse personal correspondence, replies to his letters, and gratitude for the packages he sent her. Her father’s letters are included in the correspondence series, contain his advice, and document their differences of opinion. Postwar correspondence with other family members, friends, coworkers, and displaced children document the children’s pasts, hopes for the future, and immigration journeys and relay Rottersman’s family and Aglasterhausen news and requests for supplies. Postwar correspondence also includes a handful of letters documenting the UNRRA and Aglasterhausen business of ta…
title: Rachel Greene Rottersman papers