Joseph and Rosalie Holler papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 2002.437.1

Overview

Description: The Joseph and Rosalie Holler papers include biographical materials, correspondence, reparation files, photographs, printed materials, and children’s books documenting the Hollers’ lives in Stettin, Germany and their immigration to the United States in 1939.
Biographical materials document the lives of Joseph and Rosalie Holler and Rosalie Holler’s mother, Gisela Walker. Records include a World War I military card, birth and marriage certificates, immigration records, and recommendations. Additional items include an appraisal of Gisela Walker’s jewelry and permission to take it with her, her Certificate of Registration upon her arrival in the United Kingdom, and a bound notebook labeled “Poesie,” given to Rosalie Holler in 1916 and containing handwritten and signed poems by her friends dating from 1917‐1925.
Correspondence files are comprised of letters and postcards from family members and friends before and during World War II. Pre‐war correspondence includes two postcard photographs of Jakob Walker sent to Gisela Walker during World War I and letters congratulating Joseph and Rosalie Holler on their engagement. Later correspondence contains requests for emigration help and food or clothing packages, expresses concerns about loved ones, and is postmarked from Antwerp, Berlin, Bukaczowce, Chelm, London, Stettin, and Tarnow.
Reparation files include correspondence and forms documenting Rosalie Holler’s efforts to obtain reparations and restitution through pension and insurance claims for herself and claims about her father’s trauma‐induced partial blindness.
Photographs depict Susan Holler Gelfand, her brother Norbert Holler, their mother Rosalie Holler, and additional family members and friends.
Printed materials include a poem titled “Pessach in Polen” published in Aufbau and calls for congregants of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue to consider providing affidavits for European Jews trying to immigrate.
The collection includes two books: Alpentragödie: Roman aus dem Engadin by Richard Voss and Die Fahrt ins Glück: Erzählung für junge Mädchen by A. Gaber, inscribed by Herbert Zimet.
Date: inclusive: 1909-1967
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Adele Zilbert Gelfand
Collection Creator: Joseph Holler
Rosalie Holler
Biography: Joseph Holler (1898-1970) was born in Bukaczowce in Galicia (now Ukraine). His wife, Rosalie Walker Holler (1899-1978), was born in Premissel, Austria (now Przemysl, Poland) to Jakob Walker (1876-1941) and Gisela Walker. They lived in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) with their children, Norbert (1927- ) and Susan (1930- ). Both Joseph Holler and Jakob Walker fought in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. Joseph Holler left Germany in April 1939 after being briefly arrested by the Nazis. Rosalie Holler left with the children on November 20, 1939, sailed from Rotterdam to New York, and landed in America on December 6, 1939.

Physical Details

Language: German English Polish Yiddish Hebrew
Genre/Form: Photographs.
Extent: 1 box
System of Arrangement: The Joseph and Rosalie Holler papers are arranged as six series: I. Biographical materials, 1909-1956, II. Correspondence, 1915-1967, III. Reparations, 1954-1967, IV. Photographs and printed materials, approximately 1922-1945, V. Children’s games, approximately 1939, VI. Books, 1930-1939

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: Jewish refugees--Germany. Jewish refugees--America. Jewish refugees--Great Britain. Holocaust survivors. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Children. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations. World War, 1914-1918--Photographs.
Geographic Name: Germany--Emigration and immigration--Government policy--20th century. Szczecin (Poland)

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Susan Gelfand donated the Joseph and Rosalie Holler papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002.
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 14:20:00
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn520796

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Also in Joseph and Rosalie Holler Collection

Contains two German children's books titled, "Die Fahrt ins Gluck" by A. Gaber and Alpentragodie written by Richard Voss, one children's game, one autograph book (Poesie), and one cardboard construction with children's theatre pasted inside along with family. Also contains papers including biographical materials, correspondence, reparation files, photographs, and printed materials documenting the Hollers' lives in Stettin, Germany and their immigration to the United States in 1939.