Overview
- Description
- The Joseph Hauptman papers consist of an identification card issued to Joseph Hauptman in 1945; an identification card issued to Frida Lerner on May 22, 1945, stating that she was liberated from Mauthausen concentration camp; and four certificates that accompany medals from the Czech and Russian Armies issued to Joseph Hauptman.
- Date
-
creation:
1945-1947
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joseph Hauptman
- Collection Creator
- Joseph Hauptman
- Biography
-
Josef Hauptman was born in Mukacevo, Czechoslovakia (Mukacheve, Ukraine), on June 5, 1919, to an Hasidic Jewish family. He had seven siblings. Josef was very devout and a frequent attendeee at the tish held by the Mukacevo Rabbi. Mukacheva was in the Carpathian Rus and had been part of Hungary until World War I after which it was made part of Czechoslovakia. In November 1938, Hungary reclaimed the territory with the support of Nazi Germany in the First Vienna Award. Sometime in 1938, Josef was drafted into a Soviet Army unit along with 1000 other Jewish men. He fought with the Soviet Army for seven years. He was wounded in a lung and an eye. While he was in the army hospital, a non-Jewish German doctor told Joseph that he should leave. Two days after Joseph left, the hospital was blown up.
After the war ended in May 1945, Josef was repatriated to Czechoslovakia and made a member of the Czechoslovak Army. He was awarded several medals for his service during the war from both the Czechoslovak and the Soviet governments. The only surviving member of his family was a sister. Josef believed it was due to the protective presence of Hashem (God) that he survived. Josef married and the couple had two sons and a daughter. The family emigrated to Israel and Canada before settling in the United States where he Americanized the spelling of his name. Joseph, 91, passed away in 2011 in Queens, New York.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Certificates. Identification cards.
- Extent
-
1 folder
- System of Arrangement
- The Joseph Hauptman papers is arranged in 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
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Austria--Mauthausen. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Jewish.
- Geographic Name
- Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia.
- Personal Name
- Hauptman, Joseph. Lerner, Frida.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Joseph Hauptman donated the Joseph Hauptman papers were donated 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:
- 2023-08-25 13:13:23
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn522512
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Contact Us
Also in Joseph Hauptman collection
The collection consists of medals, medal certificates relating to the experiences of Joseph Hauptman as a soldier in the Soviet Army and the Czechoslovak Army Abroad during World War II and an identification card relating to the experiences of Frida Lerner in Mauthausen concentration camp during and after the Holocaust.
Date: 1945-1947
![Ceskoslovenskou Medaila za Chrabrost [Medal of Valor] awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier](https://www.ushmm.org/media/emu/get?irn=516139&mm_irn=17055&file=secondary "Ceskoslovenskou Medaila za Chrabrost [Medal of Valor] awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier")
Ceskoslovenskou Medaila za Chrabrost [Medal of Valor] awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier
Object
Czechoslovak Medal for Valor 1939-1945 with striped ribbon awarded to Josef Hauptman in 1946 for bravery as a soldier during the war against Nazi Germany. He received the medal with a certificate (see 2004.643.1) on March 6, 1946. In 1938, Czechoslovakia was dismantled and its territory absorbed by Nazi Germany and its allies. Josef, 18, was drafted into the Soviet Army that year. He fought with Soviet forces for the rest of the war. He was wounded for the second time and hospitalized when the war ended on May 8, 1945. Sometime that summer, Josef became a member of the Czechoslovak Army. In December 1945, he was honored as a disabled veteran. Josef also received medals in recognition of his bravery during the war from both the Czechoslovak and Soviet governments.
Ceskoslovensky Valecny Kriz 1939 (Czechoslovak War Cross) with ribbon awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier
Object
Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 with striped ribbon awarded to Josef Hauptman in 1946 for bravery as a soldier during the war against Nazi Germany. He received the medal with a certificate (see 2004.643.1) on March 6, 1946. In 1938, Czechoslovakia was dismantled and its territory absorbed by Nazi Germany and its allies. Josef, 18, was drafted into the Soviet Army that year. He fought with Soviet forces for the rest of the war. He was wounded for the second time and hospitalized when the war ended on May 8, 1945. Sometime that summer, Josef became a member of the Czechoslovak Army. In December 1945, he was honored as a disabled veteran. Josef also received medals in recognition of his bravery during the war from both the Czechoslovak and Soviet governments.
Medal for Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 awarded by the Soviet Union to a Czech Jewish soldier
Object
Soviet Medal for Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 with striped ribbon awarded to Josef Hauptman for bravery as a soldier during the war against Nazi Germany. He received the medal with a certificate (see 2004.643.1) in 1947. In 1938, Czechoslovakia was dismantled and its territory absorbed by Nazi Germany and its allies. Josef, 18, was drafted into the Soviet Army that year. He fought with Soviet forces for the rest of the war. He was wounded for the second time and hospitalized when the war ended on May 8, 1945. Sometime that summer, Josef became a member of the Czechoslovak Army. In December 1945, he was honored as a disabled veteran. Josef also received medals in recognition of his bravery during the war from both the Czechoslovak and Soviet governments.
Pametni Medaile Ceskoslovenska Armada V Zahranici (Czechoslovak Army Abroad) medal awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier
Object
Commemorative Medal of the Czechoslovak Army Abroad 1939 with striped ribbon awarded to Josef Hauptman in 1946 for bravery as a soldier during the war against Nazi Germany. In 1938, Czechoslovakia was dismantled and its territory absorbed by Nazi Germany and its allies. Josef, 18, was drafted into the Soviet Army that year. He fought with Soviet forces for the rest of the war. He was wounded for the second time and hospitalized when the war ended on May 8, 1945. Sometime that summer, Josef became a member of the Czechoslovak Army. In December 1945, he was honored as a disabled veteran. Josef also received medals in recognition of his bravery during the war from both the Czechoslovak and Soviet governments.
