Henny Wenkart papers

The Henny Wenkart papers includes passports, postcards, photographs, and printed material, related to the childhood and emigration of Henny (Henriette) Wenkart from Nazi-occupied Austria as one of the "50 Children" on the transport organized by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus in June 1939. Includes childhood photographs of Wenkart and her family, German passports for Wenkart and her mother, Rose (Rachela) Wenkart, postcards sent by Wenkart's father, Hermann, including those sent to family members during World War I, and several publications containing poetry written by Wenkart reflecting on her experiences of emigration and being a refugee from Nazi Germany.

Included in the collection is a folder of biographical documents, chiefly about Wenkart’s later writings and reminiscences about her experiences, as well as two German-issued passports for Henny and her mother, Rose (Rachela), prior to their emigration from Austria.

Among the family photographs, the bulk are childhood photographs of Henny taken in Austria, from her infancy up to the time of her departure in 1939. Also included are photos of her mother’s family, the Steins, and her father’s family, the Wenkarts, along with portraits of Henny’s parents, Rose and Hermann Wenkart. Also included is a childhood photograph of Henny’s future husband, Heinz David Epstein, prior to his family’s emigration from Germany.

The folder of postcards are chiefly those sent by Hermann Wenkart to his family, and to his future wife, Rose Stein, while Wenkart served in the Austrian army during World War I.

Published material consists largely of poetry and autobiographical essays by Wenkart, from the 1990s and 2000s, which reflect upon her experiences of emigration and exile.

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