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Franz Sobotka papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 2001.123.1

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Overview

Description: The Franz Sobotka papers consist primarily of letters Franz wrote to his family while imprisoned at Buchenwald. The letters relate how Sobotka misses his family, include instructions for sending him packages, and inquire about news of relatives and friends. The collection also includes letters to him from his wife and son, many with draft replies from him on the versos, as well as a 1944 map of the Weimar SS garrison command (Standortbereich), stamped "SS-Kraftfahr Ausbildungs und Ersatz regiment!"
Credit Line: Melcher de Wit
Collection Creator: Franz Sobotka
Biography: Franz (František) Sobotka was born January 10, 1896 in Dlouhá Lhota (Czech Republic) and lived in Klattau (Klatovy) with his wife Rosa (Růženka) and son Vladimir (Vláda). He was a high school teacher and gave anti-Nazi lectures to political and labor organizations. He was arrested by the Gestapo in September 1939 and transferred to Buchenwald, where he remained under prisoner number 5243 until liberation in April 1945.

Physical Details

Language: German
Extent: 8 folders
1 oversize folder
System of Arrangement: The Franz Sobotka papers are arranged as a single series: I. Franz Sobotka papers, 1939-1945

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: Concentration camp inmates--Germany--Weimar (Thuringia)--Correspondence. Political prisoners--Germany--Weimar (Thuringia)--Correspondence.
Geographic Name: Weimar (Thuringia, Germany) Klatovy (Czech Republic)
Corporate Name: Buchenwald (Concentration camp)

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Melcher de Wit sold the Franz Sobotka papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum via eBay 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 14:19:39
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn519800

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