us-005578-irn610274
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Walter Abraham (1906-1979) was born in Frankenthal, Germany to a secular Jewish couple, Elsa and Julius Abraham. He was a partner in his father’s furniture business and later became a partner at the Berlin furniture store, Fechner and Preidel, which was destroyed during Kristallnacht. He married Ruth Fromm on December 30, 1938. Ruth Fromm (1913-2003) was born in Löbau, Germany to Henriette (d. 1913) and Meyer Fromm (1872-1942). Ruth had four sisters: Edith (b. 1892), Anna (b. 1900), Ella (b. 1902), and Betty. Her mother, Henriette, died following an appendix operation while Ruth was an infant. Thereafter, Meyer married Henriette’s sister, Frieda (1882-1942), who raised Ruth and her sisters. The Fromms were an affluent, observant Jewish family. Meyer owned several businesses in Löbau. After Löbau became part of Poland in 1921, the Fromms moved to Allenstein, Germany where Meyer worked as a property manager for Singer Sewing Company and Warner Undergarments. Three of Meyer and Frieda’s daughters married and moved to Berlin, and their parents followed sometime after 1936. Ruth and Walter married on December 30, 1938. They shared an apartment with an elderly Jewish couple near Ruth’s family. Walter’s parents and grandparents were deported to Gurs internment camp in France in October 1940. In March 1941, Ruth and Walter were assigned to forced labor; Ruth worked for Starke Pharmaceuticals, and Walter’s work assignments varied. Meyer and Frieda Fromm were deported on July 24, 1942 to Theresienstadt and transferred on September 26, 1942 to the Treblinka killing center where they were murdered. In November 1942, when Ruth was seven months pregnant, a non-Jewish German woman, Maria Nickel (1910-2001), a young mother, approached Ruth and gave her food. Shortly after, Maria gave Ruth identification papers issued to herself. Her husband, Willi, gave Walter his driver’s license. Ruth’s sister Ella was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp with her husband, Martin Kessler and …
has beginning date: 1916-01-01
has end date: 1960-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 4
has or had identifier: 6
has or had identifier: 3
has or had identifier: 5
has or had identifier: 7
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had some members with language: pol
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 1141
has or had subject: 1139
has or had subject: 1980
has or had subject: 843
has or had subject: 1138
has or had subject: 0
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn610274
record resource extent: folders 8
record resource structure: The Abraham family papers are arranged as a single series.
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Abraham family papers contain documents and photographs pertaining to Walter and Ruth Abraham, a German-Jewish family, as well as their siblings and parents. During the Holocaust, the Abraham family evaded capture by hiding in several non-Jewish German homes. The documents consist mainly of identification papers such as birth and marriage certificates and identity cards for the Abraham family. Also included are post-war identification material for Walter’s mother Elsa Abraham, and a declaration of death for Ruth’s mother Henriette. Other documents include documentation for Ruth’s sisters and for her daughter Reha. The photographs in the collection are of the Abraham family pre and post war. The Abraham family collection contains primarily identification material for Walter, Ruth, Reha, and their extended family. Material related to Walter’s parents, Julius and Elsa Abraham, are a birth certificate for Elsa, a marriage certificate, a declaration of death for Julius, and post-war French identification and correspondence for Elsa. The material pertaining to Ruth’s parents include a note written while they were imprisoned at Theresienstadt just prior to their deportation and murder, and a certificate of death issued for Meyer Fromm. Walter, Ruth, and Reha Abraham’s documents include birth and marriage certificates, identity cards, certificate of good conduct for Walter, a written endorsement of employment for Ruth, an Affidavit of Support. Other material includes birth and marriage certificates and a letter of correspondence for Ruth’s sisters, Edith, Ella, and Anna. Also included are photographs of the Abraham family, and excerpts from the book Eichmann: A Man and his Crimes.
title: Abraham family papers