Levi, Kronthal, and Eis families papers

Document | Accession Number: 2012.444.1

The Levi, Kronthal, and Eis families papers document the family of Sali Levi, last rabbi of the old Jewish community of Mainz, as well as the families of his wife Margarete Levi, nee Weissmann, his sister-in-law Rosa Kronthal, his son Hans Levi, and his son-in-law Max Eis. The collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, subject files, photographs, sermons, writings, speeches, and books documenting the lives of the Kronthal, Levi, and Eis families as they were forced to flee Germany and immigrate to the United States during the Holocaust.

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Date: inclusive: 1867-2010
Language: German
English
Hebrew
Polish
Genre/Form: Photographs.
Extent: 3 negatives.
4 diskette.
Extent: 6 boxes
1 oversize box
1 oversize folder
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Regina Lackner

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Document Creator: Levi, Kronthal, and Eis families
Biography: Rabbi Dr. Sali Levi (1883-1941) was born to Wilhelm Levi and Johanna Sternweiler Levi in Walldorf, although some sources give his birthplace as neighboring Wiesloch. Margarete Levi (1886-1960) was born Margarete Weissmann to Simon Weissmann and Lina Wischnitz Weissmann in Kieferstädtel. Hans Levi (1915-1997) was born in Breslau to Margarete and Sali Levi. Rosa Kronthal (1878-1964) was an older sister of Margarete Weissmann Levi. Max Eis (1917-1991) was born in Mainz to Jakob Eis and Regina Meyer Eis.
System of Arrangement: The Levi, Kronthal, and Eis families papers are arranged as five series: I. Sali Levi Family, 1880-2010, II. Margarete Levi Family, 1867-1960, III. Hans Levi Family, 1952-1997, IV. Berthold and Rosa Kronthal Family, 1883-1964, V. Max Eis Family, 1911-2000
Topical Term: Rabbis--Germany--Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945.
Holocaust survivors.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations.
Refugee camps.
Jewish athletes--Germany.
Jewish day schools--Germany.
Librarians--Germany.
Geographic Name: Germany--Emigration and immigration--Government policy--20th century.
Wrocław (Poland)
Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)
Walldorf (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)
Corporate Name: Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The Levi, Kronthal, and Eis families papers were donated in 2012 by Regina Lackner.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Conditions on Access: No restrictions on access
: Record last modified: 2019-12-05 21:17:05
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn61049

Also in Max and Ruth Levi Eis family and the Kronthal family collection

The collection consists of a wreath, correspondence, documents, photographs, and publications relating to the experiences of Max Eis and his family in Mainz, Germany, before the Holocaust, in Theresienstadt labor camp-ghetto during the Holocaust, and after their respective immigrations to the United States and also to the experiences of the Levi and Kronthal families in Mainz and Breslau, Germany, before the Holocaust, in several concentration camps during the Holocaust, and after their respective immigrations to the United States.

Oak leaf wreath separated into sections awarded prewar to a Jewish youth for swimming across the Rhine River

Object

Oak leaf wreath with acorns, now in several pieces, awarded to Max Eis in the mid-1930’s for swimming across the Rhine River near the town of Mainz, Germany, where he lived with his parents, Jakob and Regina, and his brother, Albert. Max and Alfred participated in athletic competitions as members of the Mainz chapter of the Jewish sports club, Schild, which was associated with Reichsbund Juedischer Frontsoldaten (The Organization of Jewish Front-line Soldiers), an organization founded by Jewish veterans in 1919 to counter anti-Semitic accusations that Jewish soldiers had been weak and cowardly during World War I. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and many laws were enacted to restrict the lives of Jews. On August 16, 1938, 21 year old Max left Mainz for London, where, on September 2, he boarded a ship to the United States. In March 1939, Max helped Albert, 36, immigrate to the US. In September 1942, Max’s parents were deported to Theresienstadt labor camp-ghetto in German occupied Czechoslovakia, where Regina died in March 1943. Jakob was liberated at the camp May 1945 by Soviet forces. He joined his sons in the US in May 1946.