Greif family papers

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Ignacy Greif (born Ignatz Michel Greif, 1920-2012) was born on 4 September 1920 in Kolomea, Poland (present-day Kolomyia, Ukraine) to Hersch Peretz Greif (1882-1965) and Chaia Itta Stempler (later Klara Stempler Greif, 1881-1946). Hersch and Klara married in Kolomea in 1910. Ignacy had one brother, Maximilian (1912-1980). In the early 1920s, the Greifs moved to Romania. Ignacy went to Bucharest, Romania in 1939 to study electro-mechanical engineering. In 1940 Jews were no longer allowed to attend school. From 1940-1944 he was a forced-laborer in Bucharest. Ignacy resumed his studies in 1945. He graduated in 1948 and married Izi Korn the same year. They had one daughter, Claudia. Both Ignacy and Izi worked as engineers. In 1973 the family immigrated to the United States, settling in San Francisco, California. Izi Greif (born Izi Korn, 1923-2008) was born on 6 May 1923 in Romancăuţi, Romania to Solomon (1899-1983) and Lea (née Koifman, 1897-1967) Korn. She had one brother, Hari Korn (1927-2010). Her family later moved to Piatra Neamț, Romania. She stopped attending high school in 1940 after Jews were no longer allowed to attend. She resumed her schooling in 1945, and studied engineering in Bucharest. 

Greif family papers 

box oversize folders 1 4 

The collection documents the pre-war and post-war lives of Ignacy and Izi Greif (née Korn) of Romania. Included are pre-war photographs of the Greif and Korn families in Romania; post-war documents relating to Ignacy and Izi’s engineering education and careers in Romania; naturalization certificates of Ignacy and Izi; and writings of Ignacy’s relative Yehuda Hersch Stempler. Photographs include depictions of Ignacy’s high school classmates in Romania and Izi’s brother Hari. 

The collection has been arranged as two series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1952-2009; Series 2: Photographs, 1925-1978 and undated