Kurt and Johanna Fish family papers

Kurt and Johanna Fish family papers 

Kurt and Johanna Fish family papers 

boxes oversize boxes 3 3 

The Kurt and Johanna Fish papers consist of correspondence, testimonies, documents, and published materials. Testimonial materials include a narrative written by Kurt Fish entitled “A Player to be Named” in which he tells his own family history and wartime experiences through a pseudonymous friend in the military named “Connie,” as well as a transcript of an oral history interview with Kurt, which was conducted by Rosemary Lawson in 1978. Kurt edited and made corrections to the transcript in 1991. The vast majority of the collection consists of correspondence between Kurt, in Vienna and later in the United States, and Johanna in Vienna and later in England. The collection also includes correspondence written from Heinrich and his family in Vienna to Kurt (with text written by Heinrich, Lotte, Ruth, and Erika), and later just from Heinrich after he immigrated to the United States. There are several folders of correspondence from Pinchas and Sali Fisch to Kurt before their deportation to Theresienstadt, and correspondence from Sali Fisch’s siblings, Iro Schacter and Regi Schwarz. The collection also includes correspondence from Lotte and Erika Fisch to Heinrich before and after their deportation to Opole. In Lotte and Erika’s letters, they describe the ghetto’s poor sanitation conditions, food supplies, minimal employment or moneymaking opportunities, and poor schooling, as well as their suffering, sense of hopelessness, and religious feelings. The collection also includes a 1943 letter from the Red Cross stating that Lotte and Erika’s whereabouts were unknown. The collection includes published materials, likely collected by Kurt prior to his emigration and while he was serving in the military in Italy and Austria. Kurt’s German passport from 1939 (Reisepass) as well as a German passport (Reisepass) of a distant relative (the husband of Johanna’s paternal aunt Hermine), Adalbert Frankl, are also included in the collection, as well as military scrip Kurt obtained while overseas. 

The Kurt Fisch family papers are arranged as six series: I. Testimonies, 1978-1991; II. Correspondence between Kurt and Johanna, 1936-1945; III. Correspondence between members of the Fisch family, 1937-1945; IV. Documents related to Lotte and Erika Fisch, 1941-1943; V. Documents and photographs related to Kurt Fisch, 1937-ca. 1947; and VI. Newspapers, newspaper clippings and published material, 1938-1945.