Oral history interview with Emmy Loeb

Sigall family papers

Document

Correspondence, identification documents, photographs, audio recording, and related materials, concerning the emigration of Emmy (née Sigall) Loeb, from her home in Darmstadt, Germany, on a “Kindertransport” to Britain in 1939; her settlement in Britain; and the efforts of her parents, Hermann and Natalie Sigall, and brother, Alex, to leave Germany in the years that followed. One folder of biographical documents includes the birth certificate reissued to Emmy after the war, in Darmstadt, 1949. Also included are three pieces of identification issued to her during her residency in Britain, including a Certificate of Registration for aliens (1939-1943), a National Registration Identity Card (1943-1947), and a Military Entry Permit issued by the Allied occupation authorities in Germany, valid from 1945 to 1947. Correspondence consists of one folder of letters received by Emmy from her parents and brother in Darmstadt (and occasionally from other relatives) and one folder regarding attempts to contact American aid groups in order to obtain affidavits. The correspondence from her family extends from July 1939 through January 1940, but also includes a couple of undated letters, and one sent to Emmy from her brother Alex in Palestine in September 1941. The letters, written mostly by her father, discuss the plans to emigrate, efforts to find a way to send Alex to England, discussion of Emmy’s arrival in Britain and her initial experiences there, and efforts for her to meet other relatives already living in England. During the course of the letters, Hermann reflects on the difficulties the family has encountered in Germany, and is alternately optimistic and pessimistic about their chances of being able to leave the country. Alex’s letter of September 1941 reports on news he had heard about their parents from his uncle Julius, who had been in contact with him, and had conveyed the news that both parents had been sent to concentration camps, and he provided the mailing addresses for them there. The correspondence seeking affidavits includes responses from a representative of Rabbi Stephen Wise in New York, and the National Council of Jewish Women, explaining that they were unable to provide affidavits or support for the Sigall family to immigrate to the United States at that time (February through June 1939). The collection also includes a photograph of Emmy with her aunt Lin (Karolin Kirchhausen), and cousins Ludwig and Walter Buxbaum, circa late 1940s.