Herman Löwenberg family papers
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Overview
- Description
- The Herman Löwenberg family papers include correspondence files, property exchange files, KKL debenture files, and restitution files documenting the family’s exchange of their property in Görlitz for property in Portland, Oregon, their immigration to the United States, the efforts of their family members to emigrate from Germany as well, and their efforts to recover or receive compensation for assets expropriated from them, particularly debentures in Palestine that the German government blocked when the family abandoned its Palestinian emigration plans in favor of the United States.
Correspondence files include letters and postcards between and among the Löwenbergs and their family members and friends. The correspondence documents family members’ efforts to emigrate, including Harry and Hilde Nathanson’s experiences on the MS St. Louis and the Abrahamowsky’s plans for Shanghai. The correspondence files also include a photograph of the Nathansons and a photograph of three unidentified Löwenbergs family members or friends.
The property exchange files include correspondence and draft agreements documenting the Löwenbergs’ ultimately canceled efforts to exchange their Görlitz properties for properties in Oregon belonging to Friedrich and Pauline Kruse and their successful efforts to exchange their properties for Oregon properties belonging to Carl and Anna Hummel. The files also document the Löwenbergs’ use of those properties, their payment of back taxes owed on the properties, additional friends’ and relatives’ property searches, and federal and state income taxes paid in 1943. These records include materials from the files of Hy Samuels, a lawyer who helped the Löwenbergs find property in Portland and negotiate the exchange.
The KKL (Keren Kayemeth Leisrael) debentures files include correspondence and bank records documenting bonds purchased by Herman Löwenberg in 1934 in preparation for emigration to Palestine that were blocked by the German government when the Löwenbergs moved to the United States instead and the Löwenbergs’ immediate and ongoing efforts to recover them. Correspondents include lawyers, banks, and other financial institutions.
Restitution files include official German documents from the National Socialist era, correspondence, forms, newspaper clippings, and banking records documenting the Löwenbergs’ efforts to recover or receive compensation for lost assets. Claims include residual matters related to the KKL debentures; unfavorable bank transfer rates; the loss they took in exchanging their Görlitz property for the Portland property; the loss of goodwill in Wilhelm Ziemer, the liqueur factory inherited from Herman Löwenberg’s father; the cost of their emigration and lost household goods; damage to Herman Löwenberg’s profession and loss of income; insurance policies; and the “Reichs Flight Tax.” Many of these claims overlap in individual folders as they were researched and prepared simultaneously in response to the German Restitution Laws of the 1950s. Correspondents include lawyers, banks, and financial and governmental institutions. - Date
-
inclusive:
1926-1965
- Collection Creator
- Löwenberg family
- Biography
-
Herman Alexander Löwenberg (1887-1965) was a liqueur manufacturer and wine dealer in Görlitz. He was married to Else Löwenberg (née Gradnauer, 1902-1998), and the couple had two children, Eveline (Evelyn Apte, 1929- ) and Gerhard (Gerald Lowen, 1926-1993). The family immigrated to the United States in February 1937, bypassing the quota system by exchanging properties with a couple in Portland, Oregon who wanted to move to Germany. The Löwenbergs became citizens in 1943 and changed their name to Lowen. Else Löwenberg’s younger sister and brother-in-law, Hilde and Harry Nathanson, tried to immigrate to the United States via Cuba aboard the MS St. Louis but were returned to Europe and subsequently deported from Drancy to Auschwitz in September 1942. Else Löwenberg’s older sister, Lotte, emigrated to Shanghai with her husband, Fritz Abrahamowsky. Following the death of their father, Siegfried Gradnauer (1865-1940), in Berlin, their mother, Blanka Gradnauer (1876-1940), took the Trans-Siberian railroad to Shanghai but contacted an illness en route and died shortly after her arrival.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Photographs.
- Extent
-
3 boxes
- System of Arrangement
- The Herman Löwenberg family papers are arranged as four series: I. Correspondence, 1938-1946, II. Property exchange, 1928-1952, III. KKL (Keren Kayemeth Leisrael) debentures, 1937-1964, IV. Restitution, 1926-1965
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
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945. Jewish refugees--Germany--Görlitz (Dresden) Jewish refugees--Oregon--Portland. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations. Jewish property--Germany--Görlitz (Dresden) Jewish property--Oregon--Portland. Haavara. Alcoholic beverage industry--Germany.
- Geographic Name
- United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy--20th century. Görlitz (Dresden, Germany) Portland (Or.) Shanghai (China)
- Corporate Name
- St. Louis (Ship)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Evelyn Apte donated the Herman Löwenberg family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 14:03:26
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn509394
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-
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