Jacob Kriegel papers

Jacob Kriegel (1896-1970) was born in Nadworna, Poland (then a part of Austro-Hungary) on February 12, 1896 to Privah and Chume Elchanan Kriegel. Between 1915 and 1918 Jacob served in the First World War. In his first year of service Jacob was severely wounded. As a consequence of his injury Jacob was sent to a school for officers and eventually became a quartermaster. In 1920 he emigrated from Poland to the United States with his parents and two siblings, Max, and Clara (later Trauben). On October 22, 1922 Jacob married Annette Silberschlag (1901–1956) whose family had also immigrated to the United States in 1920 from Stryj. The couple went on to have two children, a daughter Rita and a son Sheldon. The Kriegels resided in New York City where Jacob became a manager at the Metropolitan Life Company and remained involved in Jewish social and cultural life, both locally and abroad. Throughout the interwar period Jacob kept in correspondence with relatives and loved ones in Europe. As a consequence of this communication Kriegel became aware of Nazi persecution targeting Polish Jews within the Reich as well those who lived in Poland following German occupation in 1939. From the late 1930s through the early 1940s Jacob offered various forms of aid to those who remained behind and suffered materially as a consequence of Nazi persecution. In addition to financial support Jacob provided affidavits to a number of associates hoping to flee Europe for the United States. While some of those Jacob helped were able to emigrate, others with whom he corresponded perished during the Holocaust. After the war Jacob offered assistance to displaced persons and survivors seeking to rebuild their lives in the postwar era. During the postwar years Jacob became involved with groups such as the The United Jewish Appeal and the Zionist Organization of America. As a part of this charitable work Kriegel later traveled to Israel with his second wife Regina Goldfield (1907–2003), who was herself a Holocaust survivor, on several occasions.