Hirschfeld family papers
The Hirschfeld family papers document the pre-war, wartime, and post-war experiences of Alfred, Maria, and Hans Hirschfeld of Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). The collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, immigration papers, financial records, restitution claims, and photographs. The papers document Hans Hirschfeld’s pre-war life in Breslau, his experiences immigrating to Cuba and the United States in 1939, and his service in the United States Army during World War II. They also document Alfred and Maria’s wartime experience in Breslau, their difficulties immigrating to the United States after the war, and attempts to reclaim property in Poland.
The biographical material includes birth and marriage certificates, employment papers, school records, and Hans Hirschfeld’s United States Army papers.
The correspondence chiefly belongs to Alfred and Hans. Alfred’s correspondence includes letters from friends written during and after the war. There are also letters from a correspondence book organized alphabetically that are personal, professional, and financial in nature. Hans’s correspondence includes letters exchanged with friends who also fled Germany in 1939, as well as those who were still there. There is a large amount of correspondence with his parents from 1939-1947, but there are no letters from 1942-1944. There are also letters from his relatives Amanda and Ernestine Schwartzberg in Shreveport, Louisiana whom assisted him with immigrating to the United States. Additionally, there are letters from Alfred’s mother, Johanna, to Hans and Alfred from 1939-1940 before she died in the Warsaw ghetto in 1941.
The emigration and immigration papers include naturalization papers and correspondence. Much of correspondence is from Hans regarding his efforts to locate his parents after the war, and to assist them in their efforts to immigrate to the United States. Other papers regard his experiences immigrating to Cuba and the United States in 1939.
The financial records of Alfred Hirschberg primarily contain tax, income, business, and property bills and records. The financial records used for assessing contributions owed to the Breslau synagogue contain similar types of material, as well as letters and documents from the synagogue.
The restitution claims are for attempts by the Hirschfelds to reclaim property in Poland after the war.
The photograph album consists of pre-war photographs of Hans and his friends in Germany.
The printed material includes clippings and copies of Reichsgesetzblatt and Reichssteuerblatt from 1942.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1894-1970
- Genre/Form
-
Photograph albums.
Diaries.
- Extent
-
5 boxes
4 oversize folder
1 oversize box
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Karen Hirschfeld Hendley
-
Record last modified: 2023-08-25 18:19:04
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn42951
Also in Alfred Hirschfeld family collection
The collection consists of five German cap badges, correspondence, documents, and a photograph album relating to the pre-war, wartime, and post-war experiences of Alfred, Maria, and Hans Hirschfeld, originally of Breslau, Germany.
Date: 1920-1955
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and, from 1941-1945, served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and sailed to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal great-aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
