Cigar holder and case brought with an Austrian Jewish refugeee

Braunwasser family papers

Document

The Braunwasser family papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, and restitution files documenting the Braunwasser family in prewar Vienna, Inge Braunwasser's immigration to the United States as one of the "50 children" rescued by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, her parents' immigration shortly after, and their new life in Alice, Texas. Biographical materials include identification papers; birth, marriage, naturalization, and death certificates; student records; employment records and letters of recommendation; name change records in accordance with Nazi laws about Jewish middle names; property records; medical prescriptions; and two pages of handwritten recipes. These records primarily document the Braunwasser’s life in Vienna and their immigration to the United States. Correspondence includes a letter of gratitude from Elsa to the Geschwir relatives for taking care of Inge; three messages from Elsa in Texas to her mother in Vienna during the war; a letter from Simon’s brother Isadore regretting that he could not supply an affidavit for the Braunwasser family; a telegram confirming that Inge had arrived in Texas; two letters from Gilbert Kraus enclosing Inge’s identification and immigration documents and promising to try to help her parents; postcards and a letter from Inge in Texas to her parents in Vienna; birthday postcards to Inge; and thank you letters to Inge from a group of schoolchildren to whom she had given a presentation about her immigration experience. Photographs depict Simon Braunwasser’s family in Poland during the 1910s; the Braunwasser family in Vienna during the 1930s, including childhood photos of Inge, and in Alice, Texas during the 1940s and 1950s; and the children and grandchildren of Inge Braunwasser Steinberger. Also included are images of Gusti Weber, a neighbor and friend of the Braunwassers in Vienna, and of Weber’s son, who was killed while serving in the Germany Army during World War II. Additional photographs depict the Geschwir family, who welcomed Inge to Texas, the Weiss family, and Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus with the “50 children,” including Inge Braunwasser. Restitution files include correspondence with Fonds zur Hilfeleistung an politisch Verfolgte, Finanzdirektion fur Wien, and a lawyer named Julius Klügler documenting Inge’s efforts to receive compensation for Holocaust-era household damage and occupational injury.