Margot (neé Levi) Weinschenk (1912-1996) was born in Stuttgart, Germany to Nellie (neé Strauss; b. 1888) and Max Levi (b. 1886). She had one brother, Walter (1915-1945), and married Paul Weinschenk in 1929. Paul Weinschenk (1909-1986) was born to Gisela (neé Sundheimer; 1880-1980) and brewer Julius Weinschenk (1876-1930) in Nuremberg, Germany. He had one sister, Lilly (1904-1986), who married Sigmund Karl Kohnstamm. Both families left Germany in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution and immigrated to the United States and England. Margot and Paul settled in New York, and Max, Nellie, and Walter settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lilly, Sigmund, and Gisela immigrated to England. Max, Nellie, and Walter Levi would later change their last name to Lane. Walter joined the United States Army, and was killed in action in 1945.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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The papers are arranged as four series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1876-1983; Series 2: Correspondence, 1929-circa 1980s; Series 3: Photographs, 1888-circa 1970s; Series 4: Printed material, 1925-circa 1980s. All series are arranged alphabetically.
The Weinschenk and Levi family papers primarily contain biographical material, correspondence, and photographs related to the Weinschenk and Levi families in Stuttgart and Nuremberg, Germany prior to immigrating to the United States to escape Nazi persecution. Biographical materials include genealogical research, passports, driver’s licenses, and a document stating that Margot Weinschenk had been dropped from the voter registry because she is not of Aryan descent, 1936. Correspondence includes letters from Margot and Paul Weinschenk in New York to his sister Lilly and her husband Sigmund Karl Kohnstamm in Wales, 1940-1942. The photographs include portraits, weddings, and social gatherings of the Levi and Weinschenk families, as well as pre-war photographs of Stuttgart, Germany.
Weinschenk and Levi families papers