Ralph Steinhart papers

Ralph Steinhart was born Rolf Steinhart on 5 September 1928 in Bochum, Germany to Fritz and Käthe Steinhart. His father Fritz (later Fred Steinhart, 1890-1960) was born on 17 March 1890 in Leipzig, Germany. His mother Käthe was born Käthe Rosenberg (later Kate Steinhart) on 17 January 1897 in Münster, Germany. Ralph had one brother, Karl Heinz Steinhart (1924-1994). His family lived in Hannover, Germany where his father owned a textile store.

During the late 1930s, Fritz began making plans for the family to emigrate from Germany to the United States. He travelled to the United States in 1938 searching for relatives to sponsor their application. He located a furrier in Brooklyn, New York with the same surname who agreed to help. In 1939, Ralph’s brother Karl went to England via a Kindertransport. Fritz also immigrated to England, but was imprisoned from June 1940 to June 1941 as an enemy alien. In April 1941 Ralph and his mother were able to immigrate to the United States aboard the SS Ciudad de Sevilla via Barcelona, Spain. After arriving in New York, Ralph lived with friends of his parents who were their former neighbors in Germany while his mother looked for employment. His father later joined Ralph and his mother in the United States, and the family eventually settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.