Overview
- Description
- Correspondence, manuscripts, book cover, news clipping, primarily related to the efforts of Elizabeth Kann to determine the whereabouts of her husband, Johan Kann, following the German invasion and occupation of the Netherlands in 1940. Also contains a memoir by Kann's daughter, Jean Kann Sonder, written in 2007, and other family memoirs, as well as information about Johan Kann's father, Jacobus Kann, a prominent Dutch Zionist in the early 20th century.
The Kann family papers contains correspondence, manuscripts, a book cover, and news clippings, primarily related to the efforts of Elizabeth Kann to determine the whereabouts of her husband, Johan Kann, following the German invasion and occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, and her own escape from that country in 1941. Most of the correspondence consists of letters sent to Elizabeth Kann from diplomats, aid organizations, and members of her husband’s extended family, both trying to determine the fate of Johan Kann during the war, as well as sharing information and stories after the war about what they had learned about Kann’s fate. This collection also contains a memoir by Kann's daughter, Jean Kann Sonder, written in 2007, and other family memoirs, as well as information about Johan Kann's father, J.H. (Jacobus Henricus) Kann, a prominent Dutch Zionist in the early 20th century. Included is an unpublished English translation by Jean Kann Sonder and Elise Kann Jaeger of J.H. Kann’s 1908 book, “Erets Israel: Het Joodsche Land.” - Date
-
inclusive:
1908-2007
bulk: 1942-1945
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jean Kann Sonder
- Collection Creator
- Elizabeth Kann
- Biography
-
Elizabeth Gerson Kann (born 1905) was the American-born wife of Johan Kann, a banker from The Hague, Netherlands. The two had met when Johan Kann was on a business trip to the United States, and after their wedding in October 1926, they returned to the Netherlands. Following the invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, Mrs. Kann was able to return to the United States with her three children (Jean Adrienne, Donald Josef, and Barbara Leonora) in January 1941, settling in New York, with the understanding that her husband would follow. Johan Kann, however, was captured by the German authorities when he sought to escape the Netherlands by boat, and was subsequently imprisoned and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he died shortly after arrival in August 1942. Mr. Kann’s father, J.H. (Jacobus Henricus) Kann, a Dutch banker and prominent supporter of Zionist organizations in the Netherlands, was deported with his wife, first to Bergen-Belsen, and then to Theresienstadt, where they died toward the end of the war.
Physical Details
- Extent
-
1 box
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is divided in two series, “Speeches and Writings” and “Correspondence,” both of which are arranged alphabetically by author/correspondent.
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.
- Copyright Holder
- Mrs. Jean Sonder
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Gift of Mrs. Jean Kann Sonder and Mrs. Elise Kann Jaeger, February 2012.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-07-11 08:24:54
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn45710
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-
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Also in Kann family collection
Contains materials regarding the Kann family's experiences during the Holocaust. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Elise Jaeger photograph collection
Document
Photographic prints, an invitation, and a menu, illustrating the experiences of Jacob and Dora Kann and their children Otto, Elise (donor), Judith, and Jacobus in Dordrecht, the Netherlands before WWII. Also included are post-war images of the children, whom all survived in hiding, after the war under the care of their grandmother who also survived in hiding. Elise and Judith were hidden by Mollie and Jerry van Heel. Jacobus and Otto were in hiding in separate locations as were Jacob and Dora, the latter two of whom did not survive.
Elise Kann Jaeger collection
Document
Contains a photograph album created by Molly and Jerry van Heel for Elise [donor] on the occasion of her 14th birthday, December 24, 1944; typed label on front cover “EINDHOVEN bevrijd door Het 1ste Geall. Luchtlandingsleger en Het Tweede Britsche Leger. 18/19 September 1944.” [liberated by Allied Airborne Army, the 1st and Second British Army. 18/19 September 1944]; handwritten inscription on inside cover. Scrapbook contains photographs of American and British soldiers in being welcomed by the Dutch citizens of Eindhoven, as well as images of the Allies taking German soldiers into custody. Each image is labeled in Dutch. Photographs dated September 18 and 19, 1944.
