us-005578-irn711028-irn693695
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Gunter Hauer was born on 7 May 1919 in Berlin, Germany to Dagobert and Gertrud Hauer. Dagobert (b. 1873) was born in Vandsburg, Germany (Więcbork, Poland). He served with German army on the Russian front during World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross. He married Gertrud Lesser from Erfurt, Germany around 1900. Dagobert worked in the materials department in the N. Israel Department Store in Berlin. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Gunter was prevented from attending school. His father lost his job and Gertrud began working to support the family. After Kristallnacht in November 1938, the family began searching for ways to emigrate from Germany. Quotas and restrictions made the search difficult, but the family learned that they could immigrate to Shanghai without a visa. They spent their family’s savings on tickets to Shanghai from a Russian travel agency, but the tickets turned out to be fraudulent. Dagobert’s friend lent them money to purchase legitimate tickets for passage to Shanghai aboard the Terukuni Maru for Dagobert, Gertrud, Gunter, Dagobert’s older brother Heinrich and his wife Metha, Gertrud’s cousin Paula Haushalter, her daughter Else Eikelman, and her granddaughter Inge Eikelman. They travelled by train to Trieste, Italy and then boarded the ship to Shanghai. They learned during their journey that Germany had invaded Poland. After they arrived in Shanghai Gunter and his parents found a one-room apartment. With the help of a friend from Berlin, Gunter got a job selling typewriters and contracts for typewriter cleaning. His parents were elderly, so he was primarily responsible for the financial support for his family. They also received some additional support from Jewish relief organizations. Gunter was active in local sports clubs, playing field hockey and soccer. In December 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the Americans entered the war. The Japanese took control of Shanghai, and by February 1943 required all “stateless” refugees to …
date: circa 1890-1976
has beginning date: 1930-01-01
has end date: 1947-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: zho
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn693695
is or was included in: us-005578-irn711028
record resource extent: box oversize folder 1 1
record resource structure: The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1916-1947 Series 2. Photographs, circa 1890-1976
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The collection regards the Holocaust-era experiences of Gunter Hauer and his parents Dagobert and Gertrud Hauer, and Hella Honig (later Hella Hauer) and her parents Rosa and Herman Honig. Both families were originally from Berlin, Germany and the collection documents their pre-war lives in Berlin, immigration to Shanghai in 1939, and immigration to the United States in 1947. Included are identification documents, immigration paperwork, and photographs. Documents include papers regarding Dagobert Hauer’s service with the German army during World War I, Gunter Hauer’s identification cards for sports clubs in Berlin, identification papers from Shanghai issued to Hella Honig and her parents Rosa and Herman Honig, Dagobert’s Jüdische Kultusgemeinde cards from Shanghai, and immigration and naturalization papers for Gunter and Hella Hauer after their immigration to the United States in 1947. Photographs include pre-war depictions of the Hauer and Honig families in Berlin, wartime lives in Shanghai, and Gunter and Hella’s post-war lives in the United States. Also included are depictions of Dagobert in his German army uniform during World War I.
title: Hauer and Honig families papers