Transit pass used prewar by a Jewish refugee

Erwin Tepper papers

Document

The Erwin Tepper papers consist of documents, correspondence, photographs, and writings, related to the immigration of Erwin Tepper and his parents to the United States from Austria, as a result of Nazi persecution, in 1939. In particular, the material documents how Erwin Tepper was selected as one of 50 children by American philanthropists Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, who sought to rescue Jewish children from Austria and resettle them in the United States. In addition to photographs of Tepper's family, and of his journey as one of the 50 children, the collection contains documents related to his parents' immigration, and later material collected or compiled by Tepper for presentations about the history of the "50 children" at reunions and conferences in the United States between 2002 and 2010. The Presentations and Programs series contains material, largely compiled by Tepper, about the history of the 50 children who were brought to the United States by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, and include copies of slides or notes compiled by Kraus for use at speaking engagements or presentations given at reunions in the early 2000s. In addition, a program of a reunion held in Chicago in 2002, by an organization known as “One Thousand Children,” whose focus is on children who were rescued during the Holocaust, is also included. The Research series includes material collected by Kraus while researching the history of the “50 children,” primarily in preparation for the speaking engagements and presentations documented in the previous series. Included are brief testimonies from some of the other children who had been rescued by the Krauses, solicited and collected by Tepper in 2002. Also included are copies of archival documents obtained by Tepper from the National Archives and Records Adminstration, showing the official response of the State Department to the request of the Krauses to bring children from Vienna to the United States, as well as other documents obtained from the Brith Sholom Home, related to the children’s stay there in 1939.