Rosenberg Family Correspondence, 1938-2010, bulk 1938-1946

Summary

Creator:

Rosenberg, Alfred, Rosenberg, Alise, Rosenberg, Victor, Rosenberg, Eugen, Rosenberg, Julius, Rosenberg, Johanna, Rosenberg, Nathan, and Rosenberg, Emmy

Abstract:

The 105 letters in this collection document the experience of a German Jewish family in the years immediately before, during, and shortly after World War II. Nathan and Johannna Rosenberg of Breisach, Germany, had three sons: Julius (1900-1942), Eugen (1901-1964), and Alfred (1911-2005). Eugen left for Palestine in 1935. Alfred, with his wife and her parents immigrated to the United States in August 1938. Most of the letters were written to Alfred by his brothers, his parents, and other relatives between 1938 and 1946. Most of the letters are from Julius, Emmy, Nathan, and Johanna; some of these they wrote from the labor camp in Gurs to which many Jews in Breisach were deported in October 1940. Contains typewritten transcriptions (German) and English translations for most letters.

Extent:

1 Linear Feet 2 manuscript boxes

Language:

The collection is mostly in German. There are also materials in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and French.

Preferred citation:

Rosenberg Family Correspondence, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains one linear foot of material and includes 105 letters between Rosenberg family members, friends, and acquaintances. It documents the firsthand experiences of a German Jewish family before, during, and after the Holocaust, and also includes the experiences of family members who emigrated from Germany in the years immediately before the Second World War. The letters were received and collected by Alfred Rosenberg, and as a result most are addressed to him and Alise Rosenberg and few are written by them.

Biographical / historical:

These letters were written by various members of the Rosenberg family, particularly parents Johanna and Nathan; son Julius, b. 1900 (living in Breisach, Germany, and often writing with his fiancee Emmy); son Eugen, b. 1901 (living in Palestine with his wife Lea and a young son); son Alfred, b. 1911 (living in Brooklyn and later Pennsylvania with his wife, Alise, and her parents). The letters were received and collected by Alfred Rosenberg and donated by his son, Victor Rosenberg. In 1940 Julius, Emmy, Nathan, Johanna, and other extended family members from Breisach were deported to a labor camp in Gurs, France. Johanna died while interned there in 1941. The camp was deported to Auschwitz in August 1942, where Julius was murdered. Further information about Emmy, including her family name, is unknown. Nathan survived the war at a hospice in southern France and died there in December 1945.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Victor Rosenberg, 2009.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been transferred ot the Regents of the University of Michigan. Permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s).

Preferred citation:

Rosenberg Family Correspondence, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)

Location of this collection:

University of Michigan. Special Collections Research Center

Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library (South)

913 S. University Avenue

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190, USA

Contact:

special.collections@umich.edu