Paul A. Strassmann archival collection

The Paul A. Strassmann archival collection consists of biographical materials, photographs, and printed materials documenting Strassmann’s partisan activities during World War II and the persecution, expropriation, and imprisonment of other residents of Trenčín, Slovakia, during the Holocaust.
Biographical materials document Gejza Fried, Marek and Moric Grünfeld, Ernest Haas, Rozaliá Krčíková, Paul Strassmann, Jozef and Mária Tiso, Valerie Tausová, and Alica Pfeifferová. Gejza Fried materials include a release from the Žilina concentration camp, a working permit, and a postcard describing conditions at the Nováky concentration camp. Marek Grünfeld materials include his last will and testament and his death certificate. Moric Grünfeld materials include correspondence documenting the liquidation of his hotel business. Ernest (Arnost) Haas materials include receipts for identification papers and property handed over to the government; permissions to work, travel, avoid wearing the yellow star, and avoid deportation; and a requirement to register as a Jew. Rozaliá Krčíková materials include an exemption certificate allowing Krčíková to avoid wearing the yellow star and a work permit. Paul Strassmann materials include identification cards, permissions, and certifications documenting Paul Strassmann’s wartime service as a partisan. Jozef Tiso materials include notice of a special tax against Jewish property, coupons for installment payments, and a letter exempting Tiso from the tax because he was not Jewish. Mária Tisová materials include correspondence from the Central Office for Jews denying Mária Tisová’s requests to delay or be exempted from paying a special tax against Jewish property. This series also includes Valerie Tausová’s declaration of Jewish property and Alica Pfeifferová’s identification booklet.
Photographs depict a Jewish labor battalion working on a military installation at Liptonska Hradok in 1940, a train ambush site near Opatová in 1945, and Paul Strassmann in 1945 and 1984.
Printed materials include announcements of Holocaust‐era anti‐Jewish measures, Slovak periodicals, a memorial book including reproductions of documents and photographs, and excerpts from a history of armed Jewish resistance to the Holocaust.

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Czech Partisan medal awarded to a Jewish fighter

Object

Czech partisan medal awardeded to Paul Strassmann. This revolt erupted in August 1944 as Communists, Slovak nationalists, Army officers, and partisans, including Jewish underground fighters from the labor camps, united to overthrow the pro-Nazi Tiso regime. In October, thousands of German troops arrived and the rebellion was crushed on October 27. Paul and his family, who were from Trencin, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) went into hiding as Christians in late August 1944. His mother and sister Ella were discovered and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. His father Adolf was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen. Paul, 15, joined the Jegorov Brigade, a partisan group, in September 1944. He joined the Czech Army in April 1945 and fought in Bratislava until the end of the war in May 1945. He left Czechoslovakia just before the Communists took power and immigrated to the United States in October 1948.

Commemorative Medal of The Order of the Slovak National Uprising

Object

Pamětní Medaile Řádu Slovenského Národního Povstání [Commemorative Medal of The Order of the Slovak National Uprising] awarded to Paul Strassmann. This revolt erupted in August 1944 as Communists, Slovak nationalists, Army officers, and partisans, including Jewish underground fighters from the labor camps, united to overthrow the pro-Nazi Tiso regime. In October, thousands of German troops arrived and the rebellion was crushed on October 27. Paul and his family, who were from Trencin, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) went into hiding as Christians in late August 1944. His mother and sister Ella were discovered and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. His father Adolf was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen. Paul, 15, joined the Jegorov Brigade, a partisan group, in September 1944. He joined the Czech Army in April 1945 and fought in Bratislava until the end of the war in May 1945. He left Czechoslovakia just before the Communists took power and immigrated to the United States in October 1948.