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Weisberger family papers

Document | Not Digitized | Accession Number: 2017.242.1

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    Overview

    Description
    Documents, photographs, and printed materials, related primarily to the activities of the Weisberger family, of Poughkeepsie, NY, and New York City, during World War II. Most material relates to Rabbi Ralph M. Weisberger, in his role as a chaplain in the U.S. Army, including his service in Iraq and Iran, where he worked with refugee Polish doctors. Also includes photographs of his parents, and documents related to the wartime voluntary service in the United States of two of his siblings, Estelle Klein and Helen Weisberger.
    Date
    inclusive:  1942-1996
    undated: 
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of David Ari Klein
    Collection Creator
    Ralph M. Weisberger
    Biography
    Rabbi Ralph Weisberger (1912-1996) was born in Poughkeepsie, NY on 28 March 1912, the ninth of eleven children of Bentzion and Pearl (nee Singer) Weisberger, both of whom had immigrated from Hungary (Bentzion with his family as a child in 1882, and Pearl as a 15-year-old in 1890). The family moved to Harlem in the 1920s, and eventually settled in Washington Heights. Ralph studied at the City College of New York, obtaining a bachelor's degree there in 1934, and went from there to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1940. His first position was as rabbi with the Brith Sholom Community Center in Philadelphia, where he served until 1942. After chaplain training at Harvard University, he joined the United States Army in October 1942, serving at bases in Florida, South Carolina, and Mississippi, before being sent overseas, to the Persian Gulf Command, stationed in Iran and Iraq. He ministered to Jewish soldiers from the U.S. and British military forces based there, but also to Jewish refugees from Poland who were living there. He reached the rank of captain in the U.S. Army, and was demobilized in 1946. He returned to the United States after the war, but subsequently worked in the Torah education department of the World Zionist Organization in Jerusalem, beginning in 1951, and immigrated to Israel in 1969, when he changed his name to Ralph Ben-Zion. He died in Jerusalem on 20 December 1996.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Genre/Form
    Photographs. Letters.
    Extent
    8 folders
    System of Arrangement
    Files are arranged in alphabetical order by family member, and in subfolders by document type.

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Gift of David Ari Klein, the nephew of Rabbi Ralph Weisberger, 2017.
    Record last modified:
    2024-09-13 14:37:20
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn557785

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