Schulhof family papers

Joseph Schulhof (1903-2005) was born on 18 September 1903 in Český Brod, Bohemia (Czechoslovakia after 1918; present-day Czech Republic) to Mathilde (née Reichmann, 1875-1940) and Paul (1862-1939) Schulhof. He had three brothers, Karel (1895-1944), Jaroslav (1897-1944), and Rudolf (Ruda, 1912-1999), and one sister, Marta (later Marta Wien, 1905-1943).

Charlotte Schulhof (born Sarolta Poras, 1909-2008) was born on 1 September 1909 in Kaposvar, Hungary to Herman (1882-1944) and Gizella (née Haffner, 1887-1913) Poras. She had one sister, Katalin (later Katalin Neumann, 1911-2001). Charlotte’s mother died in 1913, and her father later married Margit Rosenberg (d. 1944).

Joseph attended college in Prague, and after graduation in 1925, he worked briefly at a coal mine in Kladno, Czechoslovakia. He then joined an engineering firm in Prague. In 1929 he was transferred to Ostrava (Czech Republic) to set up a new branch. There he met Charlotte Poras, who was living with her uncle in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, across the border from Ostrava. They married in 1932. In 1935, they moved back to Prague. Their son, Peter, was born in 1937.

After the German army occupied Prague on 15 March 1939, the Schulhofs began exploring ways to emigrate. They wanted to immigrate to the United States, but despite efforts from relatives already living there, they were told the quota was already full. As no other countries would grant them visas, they decided to go to Shanghai, China where visas were not required for entry at the time. Through financial assistance from relatives, including Joseph’s brother Rudolph, who immigrated to the United States via Belgium in May 1939, they were able to purchase tickets on the SS Conte Verde. On 2 May 1940, the Schulhofs sailed from Genoa, Italy to Shanghai.

They remained in Shanghai until Joseph was able to secure an engineering position with the Swiss firm Lieberman Waelchli & Co. in 1941. The family then moved to Tientsin, China (Tianjin, China), where they remained until 1948. After initial plans to remain in Tientsin, they realized that the increasing Chinese civil war made necessary their departure. In November 1948, they were finally able to immigrate to the United States. The family settled in New York where Charlotte co-owned a business that imported Chinese jewelry and other goods, and Joseph worked various jobs until he was able to resume his engineering career in 1951. In 1954, they moved to Middletown, New York.

Joseph’s father died in 1939, and his mother died in 1940, both of natural causes. His brothers Karel and Jaroslav, and his sister Marta, along with their spouses and children all perished at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jaroslav’s daughter Vera (later Vera Dvorak, 1921-2006) was the only family member to survive the camp. Charlotte’s father Herman and her stepmother Margit both perished at Auschwitz. Her sister Katalin was deported to Auschwitz, and then to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she was a forced-laborer. After liberation, she was sent to a rehabilitation camp in Loka Brunn, Grythyttan, Sweden. She joined Joseph and Charlotte in Tientsin in 1947. Unable to obtain a United States visa at the time of Joseph, Charlotte, and Peter’s departure, she remained in Tiantsin until 1949 when she immigrated to Israel. She immigrated to the United States in 1958.