Overview
- Description
- Documents and photographs regarding the experiences of Alfred Löwenstein and Lola Stern, both of whom separately fled Germany for Shanghai aboard the MN Victoria in 1939, survived the Holocaust in Shanghai, and later married in the United States. Also contains biographical information on their families, including the deaths of Alfred’s parents at Theresienstadt.
Biographical materials of Alfred and Lola include German passports, employment references, identification cards, and documents related to immigration to the United States. There are documents related to Alfred’s parents, Siegmund and Sophie Löwenstein, including birth certificate and copies of archival documents from “Beit Theresienstadt” regarding their deaths at Theresienstadt, and documents of his brother Julius who survived in a work camp. There are also a small amount of documents of Lola’s parents, Hugo and Käthe Stern, who also survived in Shanghai. Additionally, there is an annotated poster of the MN Victoria.
Photographs include prewar family photographs and depictions of Alfred’s and the Sterns’ travels on the MN Victoria in 1939. The photograph album primarily depicts the Sterns’ trip aboard the MN Victoria in 1939, but also includes postwar photographs of the Sterns’ immigration to the United States in 1947 and their lives in Philadelphia. - Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1900-1981
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gary Loy.
- Collection Creator
- Löwenstein family
Stern family - Biography
-
Alfred Löwenstein (b. 1910) was born in Ortenberg, Germany to Siegmund (1876-1942) and Sophie (1885-1942) Löwenstein. He had one brother, Julius (b. 1913). Alfred and a friend fled Germany for Shanghai aboard the MN Victoria in 1939. He survived the war in Shanghai and immigrated to the United States in 1947 aboard the SS General Cordon. He married Lola Stern (whom he had known in Shanghai) in 1948 and they had one son, Gary. His brother, Julius, survived the Holocaust in a work camp and later immigrated to the United States. His parents were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942. Siegmund perished there in 1943. Sophie was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 where she also perished.
Lola Stern (born Irma Karola Stern in 1923) was born in Redwitz an der Rodach in Bavaria to Hugo (d. 1965) and Käthe (née Gutmann, b. 1900) Stern. She had one sister, Lisa (b. 1932). Hugo was a World War I veteran and worked as a merchant and insurance agent. Lola primarily grew up in Nordhausen. When she was fourteen, she was expelled from school for being Jewish. During Kristallnacht, Hugo was arrested in Erfurt and Käthe and Lisa were arrested in Nordhausen. After they were released, they applied for passports to emigrate from Germany. They were then fortunate to purchase tickets for the MN Victoria and sailed from Genoa, Italy to Shanghai in April 1939. In Shanghai, Hugo sold used clothing and Lola worked as a waitress. They were confined to the Hongkew section of Shanghai after Japan entered the war in 1941. The family immigrated to the United States in 1947 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Photographs. Photograph albums.
- Extent
-
7 folders
1 oversize folder
1 oversize box
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1910-1981; Series 2. Photographs, circa 1900-circa 1980
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
- Topical Term
- Refugees, Jewish--China--Shanghai.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Gary Loy in 2017.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 14:32:10
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn583790
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
Contact Us
Also in Löwenstein and Stern families collection
The collection consists of document cases, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of Fred Loy (born Alfred Löwenstein), Lola Stern Loy, Julius Loewenstein, and their families in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, and China before and during the Holocaust, and in the United States after World War II.
Date: 1900-1981
Document case owned by a German Jewish refugee in the Shanghai Ghetto
Object
Red document case used by Lola Stern (later Loy) and her family while emigrating from Germany in 1939 and Shanghai, China, in 1947. The case bears the name of a German insurance company and was likely acquired by Lola’s father, Hugo Stern, through his work as an insurance agent. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Lola was expelled from her school for being Jewish. To learn some work skills, she moved away from her parents, Hugo and Käthe Stern, and younger sister, Lisa, in Nordhausen. On November 8, 1938, during Kristallnacht, Lola was living in Frankfurt am Main as a domestic servant in a nurse’s house and helped care for those injured during the attacks. While in Erfurt on business, Hugo was arrested, beaten, and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. The Nordhausen Gestapo held Käthe and Lisa overnight in the police station. After four weeks, Hugo was released and told he had six months to leave Germany. In March 1939, Hugo acquired tickets aboard the MS Victoria bound for Japanese-controlled Shanghai, China. In late April, the Stern family traveled to Genoa, Italy, where they boarded the ship. After a month-long journey, the Sterns arrived in Shanghai, where they received assistance from Jewish aide organizations. The family settled into a small apartment, Lola found work as a waitress, Hugo sold second-hand clothing, and Lisa returned to school. In May 1943, the Japanese forced stateless refugees, like the Sterns, into a closed ghetto in Hongkew. In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies, though frequent air raids continued in Shanghai until Japan’s surrender in August. Most of the family’s relatives in Europe perished in the Holocaust. The Stern family immigrated to the US in May 1947.
Case and paper insert owned by a former German Jewish forced laborer
Object
Black document case acquired and used by Julius Loewenstein (born Löwenstein) after immigrating to the United States following the end of World War II (1939-1945). The case was used to hold his US naturalization certificate and important insurance papers. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, many anti-Jewish laws severely restricted the daily lives of nineteen-year-old Julius, his parents, Siegmund and Sophie Löwenstein, and older brother, Alfred. Julius made his way to Switzerland as a refugee in August 1938. During the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, Siegmund and Sophie were living in Frankfurt am Main. Siegmund was arrested and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp and held for several weeks. At the end of April 1939, Julius’ brother, Alfred, boarded the MS Victoria, in Genoa, Italy, and set sail for Japanese-controlled Shanghai, China. Alfred found work as a representative for the Argo Company. During the war, Julius spent several years in a labor camp for emigrants in Nuovo Locarno, Switzerland. He worked for Losinger & Co. A.G., and received monetary support from Jewish aide societies. From January 1945 to August 1946, Julius worked as an office assistant and accountant for the Swiss Jewish Aid to Refugees, Zurich. Julius immigrated to the US in August 1946. Alfred immigrated to the US in 1947, and Americanized his name to Fred Loy. The brothers later learned that their parents were deported to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1942. In January 1943, Siegmund died in the camp, and Sophie was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, where she perished.
