Heinz and Mira Wallerstein papers

Heinz Wallerstein (later known as Henry Wallerstein, 1914-1987) was born in Kassel, Germany in 23 July 1914 to Jenny (née Stern, b. 1881) and Harry Wallerstein. He had one brother, Rolf (1920-1987). Harry died while Heinz was still a child. From 1933-1936, Heinz worked in Saarbrücken, Germany as a driver, car mechanic, and locksmith. Jenny’s sister, Irma Brandt, moved to the United States in the 1920s, and was able to help Heinz, Rolf, and Jenny immigrate to the United States. Heinz arrived in in the United States on the SS Manhattan on 19 February 1937. He married Clara Rotschild, but she died giving birth. Both Heinz and his brother Rolf served in the United States Army during World War II.

Mira Wallerstein (born Miriam Fleischmann, 1919-2016) was born on 6 September 1919 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (present-day Belarus) to Riva Schulmann and Arnošt Fleischmann. Arnošt was born in Plzeň, Bohemia (present day Plzeň, Czech Republic) in 1896. She had one sister, Klara (b. 1921). In 1923, the family moved to Plzeň to live with Mira’s grandmother and great-grandfather. Her mother was then sent back to Russia. Klara was sent to live with her grandmother’s sister, and she later lived with Arnošt after he remarried. She died of tuberculosis in the 1930s.

Mira was sent to live with Arnošt’s aunt Sophie Taussig and her husband Julius Taussig (b. 1879) in Prague. Sophie died while Mira was still a child, and Julius married Ani Glazer (Anna, 1896-), who also had a daughter, Josephine Winter (b. 1922), with her first husband.

In February 1940 Mira was able to take a train to Trieste, Italy, and from there was able to book passage on a boat to the United States. She initially stayed with Julius’s sister, Ida Schanzer. She studied to become a nurse, and married Heinz in 1943. Their son, Harvey, was born in 1945, and their daughter, Ruth, was born in 1949.

On 17 December 1941, Julius, Anna, and Josephine were deported from Prague to Theresienstadt. On 15 January 1942 they were deported to Riga where they likely perished. Her father, Arnošt, was deported from Prague to the Łódź ghetto in 1941 where he likely perished. Her mother Riva also perished during the war.