- Description
- Consists of documents, correspondence, and photographs related to the pre-war and wartime experiences of Szymon Joffe (later Paul or Sam Jaffe), originally of Łódź, Poland. In May 1938, Mr. Joffe was able to immigrate to the United States, where he joined the American Army and spent the last months of the war as part of the American occupation of Paris, France. Includes wartime correspondence from family members who remained in Poland and perished during the Holocaust, documents related to his experiences in the American military, and extensive photos related to his wartime experiences and of Paris after the liberation of the city.
The Joffe papers consist of pre-war, wartime, and post-war documents related to Paul S. Joffe. “The Joffe Saga” was written by a relative and describes life in wartime Palestine, the War of Independence, and the relative’s post war life. The materials related to Paul include pre-war school notebooks, identity papers, the ship’s manifest for his immigration, naturalization applications, and letters of reference. The folder “Letters from Europe” contains letters from Jaffe’s parents, including some from the Łódź ghetto prior to their deportation. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs. Jaffe took many photographs of Paris during the occupation and made extensive annotations describing the event or location depicted, along with messages to his wife, Helen.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1920-1990
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mona Rowe
- Collection Creator
- Paul Jaffe
- Biography
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Szymon Joffe (later Sam Jaffe or Paul Jaffe) was born in Łódź, Poland, on July 6, 1920 to Julek (Juda) Joffe (b. 1889) and Malcia Goldberg Joffe (b. 1892). He attended high school in Łódź. On May 16, 1938, he sailed on the Gdynia-Ameryka ship the MS Piłsudski, arriving in New York on May 26th. He settled in St. Augustine, Florida, with relatives, Max and Julius Jaffe, and changed his name to Samuel (Sam) Jaffe. He went back to school and began to work in his relatives' grocery story. He married Helen Jaffe. Sam Jaffe joined the American military in 1942 and served as part of the occupation of Paris after the city was liberated in August 1944. Jaffe later began to go by the name Paul Jaffe. A talented artist, he designed the first insignia for NORAD. His parents were sent to the Łódź ghetto in 1939 and later transferred to Warsaw. They were deported to Treblinka in late 1941 and were murdered. Paul S. Jaffe died in January 2010.
