Overview
- Description
- The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Theresa Cahn-Tober (born Theresa Licht) and her parents Stephen Lighton (previously Szymon Licht) and Elizabeth Lighton (previously Esther Licht), all of whom survived the war in Warsaw under false-identities and lived in the München Neu Freimann displaced persons camp after liberation. Included are false-identity documents, identification papers, and a report card. Post-war documents stating the Licht family were former prisoners of Mauthausen are also false certificates used to get into the displaced persons camp.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1935-1946
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Theresa Cahn-Tober
- Collection Creator
- Theresa Cahn-Tober
Stephen Lighton
Elizabeth Lighton - Biography
-
Theresa Cahn-Tober (1936-2004) was born Theresa Licht on 26 February 1936 to Szymon and Estera Licht. Her father Szymon Licht (later Stephen Lighton, 1903-1992) was born on 25 January 1903 in Jarosław, Poland to Julius and Gisela (née Goldstein) Licht. Before the war he worked as a doctor. Her mother Esther Licht (later Elizabeth Lighton, 1909-2007) was born Esther Chajes on 26 February 1909 in Kałusz, Poland (Kalush, Ukraine) to Perez adn Rose (née Muhlstein) Chajes. Her parents married on 11 September 1932 in Lvov, Poland (Lviv, Ukraine).
After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Poland was partitioned and Lvov was annexed by the Soviet Union. After the Nazis occupied Lvov in 1941, the family acquired false identification documents and survived the Holocaust in Warsaw. Szymon lived under the name Mieczyslaw Ladislaus Teodorowicz and his wife was Pelagia Kaliszewska-Teodorowicz.
After liberation the family lived in the München Neu Freimann displaced persons camp from December 1945-May 1946. In May 1946 the family immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Perch.
Theresa married Herbert Cahn and worked as a clinical psychologist in Arizona. They had two children, Debora and Jeffrey. She later married Gerald Tober.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Identification documents. Report cards.
- Extent
-
1 folder
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is unprocessed.
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--Ukraine--L'viv. Jewish ghettos--Ukraine--Lʹviv. Identification cards--Forgeries--Poland. Displaced persons camps.
- Geographic Name
- Katowice (Poland) Lʹviv (Ukraine) Warsaw (Poland) Munich (Germany) Katowice (Poland)
- Personal Name
- Licht, Szymon. Licht, Esther. Licht, Theresa.
- Corporate Name
- Neu Freimann (Displaced persons camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Theresa Cahn-Tober in 2002.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-03-20 13:52:13
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn510325
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
- In Copyright - Use Permitted
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
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-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD