Abraham Spiegel papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 2004.546.1

Overview

Description: The Abraham Spiegel papers consist of biographical materials documenting the Spiegel family, originally from Munkács (formerly Hungary) and Bardejov (Slovakia). Records include birth, marriage, and death certificates, residency and citizenship documents, and immigration and naturalization records. The papers particularly reflect the Spiegel family’s efforts to document their Hungarian citizenship to avoid deportation as Jewish non-citizens following the border realignments of the First Vienna Award in 1938 as well as Abraham’s immigration to the United States in 1947 with his wife and son.
Date: inclusive: 1928-1972
bulk: 1928-1954
Collection Creator: Abraham Spiegel
Biography: Abraham Spiegel (1906-2004) was born in Munkács, Hungary (Mukacheve, Ukraine) to sawmill owner Henrik (Haim) Spiegel and his wife, Fani Weiser. He married Edita (Eta) Rosenwasser (1916-1999) from Bardejov (Slovakia) in 1940. In 1944 they were deported to Auschwitz with the entire Spiegel family, and their two year old son Uziel (Oscar) and Edita’s mother were killed in a gas chamber. Abraham survived Auschwitz, Fünfteichen, Gross-Rosen, Buchenwald, and a death march. He was reunited with his wife after the war, they had son Thomas in 1946, immigrated to the United States in December 1947, settled in California, and had daughter Rita in 1948. Abraham Spiegel became a prominent real estate developer, formed Columbia Savings & Loan, and was a major philanthropist.

Physical Details

Language: Hungarian Czech Slovak German English Hebrew Romanian
Genre/Form: Photographs.
Extent: 1 box
System of Arrangement: The Abraham Spiegel papers are 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--Ukraine--Mukacheve. Jews--Slovakia--Bardejov. Citizenship--Hungary. Holocaust survivors.
Geographic Name: Bardejov (Slovakia) Mukacheve (Ukraine) United States--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Rita Spiegel donated the Abraham Spiegel papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004.
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 14:10:58
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn515517

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Also in Abraham Spiegel collection

Consists of one pre-war and wartime file of papers gathered and used by Abraham Spiegel, originally of Munkács, Czechoslovakia, to establish himself as a Hungarian citizen. Includes scrip from both the Theresienstadt and Litzmannstadt ghettos and official documents and paperwork for the Spiegels once they arrived in the United States, including passports. The paperwork focuses on Abraham Spiegel and his wife, Edita Rosenwasser Spiegel.

Date: 1928-1972