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"My Life Before and After Jan. 30, 1933"

Document | Accession Number: 2003.386

One memoir by Leo Waldbott entitled "My Life Before and After January 30, 1933," 43 pages, in which he describes his own life and life in Speyer/Rhine, Germany. He gives a brief history, with examples, of antisemitism in the region and describes the community's efforts to establish a Jewish home for the elderly, which burned down due to arson during the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 10, 1938. He also describes his struggles with and eventual emigration to the United States in 1939.

Date
1940
Genre/Form
Personal narratives.
Extent
1 folder

About This Document

Document Creator
Leo Waldbott
Biography
Leo Waldbott (1867-1940) was born on 28 January 1867 in a suburb of Lustadt, Germany to Lazarus and Clara Waldbott (d. 1912, née Neu). He had two siblings: Sigmund (1865-1950) and Flora (later Flora Leva, 1868-1948). Leo married Hermine Rosenberger (1867-1920) and they had three children: Emil (1891-1972), Elizabeth (1893-1917), and George (1898-1982). Leo’s sons Emil and George both immigrated to the United States before World War II.

Leo worked as a teacher of Jewish Studies in Speyer, Germany. He also helped establish a Jewish retirement home in Neustadt. During Kristallnacht, the retirement home was burned down. Leo was forced to leave Speyer, and hid in Mannheim until he was able to secure a visa to emigrate from Germany. He immigrated to the United States on 16 December 1938 aboard the SS Europa and settled in Detroit, Michigan.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
Barbara Kay Mercuro, a friend of Leo Waldbott's granddaughter, Betsy Ramsay, sent this memoir to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Nov. 24, 2003. Betsy Ramsay formally donated the memoir on Dec. 14, 2003.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use
The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of these material(s). The Museum does not own the copyright for the material and does not have authority to authorize use. For permission, please contact the rights holder(s).

 
Record last modified: 2022-03-22 08:16:30
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514306