Overview
- Description
- The Bienstock family papers document the experiences of Dreisel and Wolf Bienstock and their children Joseph and Martha Bienstock as they fled Nazi Germany in 1938. The papers include immigration and identification documents; copies of letters Martha Bienstock sent from Lisbon, Portugal to family members and her friend Gisa; restitution papers with testimonial statements regarding their men’s clothing business; and a photocopy of a newspaper with an article about the Bienstock’s business not being open on Saturdays. There is also a Polish poverty certificate of Abraham Singer, whose relation to the family is unknown.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1919-1997
bulk: 1940-1958
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jill Padawer Gemmill
- Collection Creator
- Bienstock family
- Biography
-
Wolf Bienstock (1897-1995) married Dreisel Stern (later Dora Bienstock; 1896-1993) in 1919. Wolf and Dreisel were both Polish, but moved to Dortmund, Germany where they owned a men’s clothing business. They had two children: Joseph (b. 1919) and Martha (later Martha Padawer; 1924-2012). In 1938, they were forced to sell their business and they made plans to leave Germany. They fled Germany in September 1938 by paying someone to smuggle them to Belgium. They were in Antwerp, Belgium until May 1940, and then went to France where they were in a detention camp for a short while. After they were released, they went to Madrid, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal. In Lisbon, they were able to secure visas and immigrated to the United States in 1941. In 1942, they settled in Howell, New Jersey and purchased a chicken farm.
Physical Details
- Extent
-
8 folders
1 oversize folder
- System of Arrangement
- The Bienstock family papers are arranged alphabetically as one 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
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Bienstock family papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Jill Padawer Gemmill in 2015.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 14:25:57
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn527001
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-
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Also in Wolf and Dreisel Bienstock family collection
The collection consists of documents, papers, photocopies, and a suitcase relating to the experiences of Wolf and Dreisel Bienstock and their children Joseph and Martha before the Holocaust when they fled Dortmund, Germany for the United States via Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal, and after the Holocaust as they pursued financial restitution for their confiscated business.
Suitcase used by German Jewish refugee family
Object
Suitcase relating to Wolf and Dreisel Bienstock and their children Joseph and Martha (donor's mother) and their flight from Nazi Germany via Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal to the United States, and their successful post-war attempts for financial resitution for their family business in Dortmund, which had been confiscated because they were Jewish.
