Overview
- Description
- The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Ernst and Johanna Weihs, both originally of Vienna, Austria. Included are identification documents of Ernst and Johanna, certificates of Ernst and Johanna certifying that they were prisoners of Auschwitz and eligible for benefits in Vienna, and an identification document certifying that Ernst was a prisoner at Dachau.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1945-1949
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ernst and Johanna Wells
- Collection Creator
- Ernst Weihs
Johanna Weihs - Biography
-
Ernst Weihs (1908-1995) was born on November 8, 1908 in Vienna, Austria to Hugo Weiss (d. 1937) and Sidonie Gans. He had one sister. His father served in World War I and his parents divorced after the end of the war. Hugo remarried to a Lutheran woman, and subsequently converted to Lutheranism. Ernst converted as well. Prior to the start of World War II, Ernst worked as a gardener in Vienna. He met Johanna Bergmann while working at a Swedish home for the elderly and they got engaged. In October 1942 he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. He and Johanna unofficially married after he was deported. He was transferred to Auschwitz in October 1944 and then to Dachau and finally the Dachau subcamp of Kaufering. He was sent on a death march from Kaufering in April 1945 when he was liberated by the United States Army. Ernst and Johanna officially married after the war and their daughter was born in 1947. The family immigrated to the United States in 1951.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Identification cards. Certificates.
- Extent
-
1 folder
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is arranged as a single series.
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--Austria--Vienna. Holocaust survivors--Austria.
- Geographic Name
- Vienna (Austria) Dachau (Germany : Refugee camp)
- Personal Name
- Weihs, Ernst, 1908- Weihs, Johanna.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Ernst and Johanna Weihs in 1988.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 18:10:45
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514643
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-
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Also in Ernst and Johanna Weihs collection
The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Ernst and Johanna Weihs, both originally of Vienna, Austria. Included are identification documents of Ernst and Johanna, certificates of Ernst and Johanna certifying that they were prisoners of Auschwitz and eligible for benefits in Vienna, and an identification document certifying that Ernst was a prisoner at Dachau. The collection also includes two pieces of Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip.
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 1 krone note
Object
Scrip, valued at 1 (eine) krone, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain with the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 2 kronen note
Object
Scrip, valued at 2 (zwei) krone, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 similar, beautifully designed denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain with the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
