United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Morris Fishman (1915‐2006) was a rabbi from Albany who joined the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in 1946 and spent two years as director of the displaced persons camps near Kassel, Passau, and Regensburg. He married Holocaust survivor Lala Fishmen (born Clara Weintraub, 1922-2011) in Passau in 1947. The couple moved to Brooklyn in 1948, and settled in Missouri soon after. Lala Fishman (1922-2011) was born Clara Weintraub in Kam'i︠a︡net︠s︡ʹ-Podilʹsʹkyĭ (Ukraine) in 1922 to Ilya and Olga Weintraub and was raised in Lvov. She survived the war by concealing her Jewish identity, refusing to enter the Lvov ghetto, and escaping from the Janowska concentration camp after her arrest. Using false papers in the name of Urszula Krzyzanowska, she fled to Sambor, Krakow, Radom, and Katowice. After the war, she moved to the Hasenhecke displaced person camp near Kassel and met Morris Fishman. Morris Fishman (1915-2006), a rabbi from Albany, joined the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in 1946 and spent two years as director of the displaced persons camps near Kassel, Passau, and Regensburg. Morris and Lala were married in Passau in 1947, moved to Brooklyn in 1948, and later settled in Missouri. Lala’s brother Fima survived the war, but her parents and sister Rysia perished.
Copyright Holder: Rabbi Morris Fishman
box 1
The Morris and Lala Fishman papers are arranged as three series: I. Identification papers, 1946-1948, II. Photographic materials, approximately 1944-1948, III. Printed materials, 1947
The Morris and Lala Fishman papers consist of identification papers, photographs, and printed materials documenting Lala Fishman’s displaced persons status after the Holocaust, her life in the Hasenhecke and Möncheberg displaced persons camps, Morris Fishman’s work as JDC director of the displaced persons camps in the Kassel, Passau, and Regensburg regions, and their marriage. Identification papers consist of Lala Fishman’s D.P. Identification Card, War Department dependant wife identification card, temporary travel document in lieu of passport, and Israel Bureau of Immigration card, as well as an affidavit prepared by Morris Fishman attesting to his wife’s identity. Photographs depict Morris and Lala Fishman and displaced persons, camps, and personnel in the areas of Kassel and Regensburg. Printed materials include two Hebrew primers published by the JDC on paper acquired from the Kassel staff of Stars and Stripes and a copy of the Fishmans’ wedding dinner menu.
Morris and Lala Fishman papers