Teodor Diamant papers
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Overview
- Description
- The collection documents the experiences of Teodor Diamant, originally of Turčiansky Svätý Martin (Martin, Slovakia), on the SS Pentcho, its shipwreck on the uninhabited island of Kamilonissi, while en route to Palestine, and his internment at a concentration camp on Rhodes and then the Ferramonti concentration camp in Tarsia, Italy. Included is a photograph album documenting his voyage on the ship and his internment in the camps. Other photographs document his military experience with a Czech unit in Great Britain, family and friends, and post-war experiences in London and the United States. Also included are loose photographs, correspondence (original, copies, and translations), immigration and naturalization papers of Teodor and his wife Friderika Diamant, army records, passports and other identification documents.
- Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1920-2017
bulk: 1939-1952
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Richard Diamant.
- Collection Creator
- Teodor Diamant
- Biography
-
Teodor Diamant was born on 10 November 1908 in Turčiansky Svätý Martin (Martin, Slovakia). Prior to the war he worked as an electrician. Trying to flee persecution by the Nazis, he boarded the SS Pentcho in 1940 to sail to Palestine. In October 1940 a boiler on the ship exploded and the passengers were shipwrecked on the uninhabited island of Kamilonissi. About ten days later, an Italian warship picked them up and transferred them to a camp on Rhodes. Around March 1942, Teodor and the other refugees were transported to the Ferramonti concentration camp in Tarsia, Italy. He went to England around 1944 and enlisted with a Czechoslovakian unit. He was discharged in 1946 and immigrated to the United States later that year. While in England he married Friderika Sidon (b. 1920, daughter of Regina and Isidor Sidon) who immigrated to London from Trnava, Czechoslovakia (Trnava, Slovakia) in 1939.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Photographs. Photograph albums. Correspondence.
- Extent
-
1 box
1 oversize box
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is arranged as two series.
Series 1. Biographical material, 1938-2017
Series 2. Photographs, circa 1920-1990
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Refugees, Jewish--Greece--Rhodes. Refugees, Jewish--Italy--Calabria. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish.
- Geographic Name
- Trnava (Slovakia) Rhodes (Greece) Tarsia (Italy) London (England) United States--Emigration and immigration. Martin (Slovakia)
- Personal Name
- Diamant, Teodor, 1908- Diamant, Friderika, 1920-
- Corporate Name
- Ferramonti (Concentration camp) Pentcho (Steamship)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Richard Diamant in 2017.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 14:30:29
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn559617
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
