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Leon Gildesgame papers

Document | Accession Number: 2018.390.1

Consists of a cover letter addressed to Meir Grossman of the American Jewish Conference by Leon Gildesgame and two original enclosures. The original enclosures include a typewritten account of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Xaver Sommerhoff articulating his participation in the killing of Jewish civilians and others, and a typewritten copy of First Army Special Report titled "It Happened in the Twentieth Century," detailing the interrogation of Dr. Gustav Wilhelm Schübbe. Schübbe, a medical doctor, admitted to the killings of thousands of Jews, Romani people, and others by morphine injection in German-occupied Kiev. Leon Gildesgame, who had lost loved ones during the Holocaust, forwarded these documents to the American Jewish Conference in the hope that the crimes articulated therein might be publicized.

Date
creation:  1945
Language
German
English
Genre/Form
Letters.
Reports.
Documents.
Extent
1 folder
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Myron L. Gildesgame.

About This Document

Document Creator
Leon L. Gildesgame
Biography
Leon Lazar Gildesgame (1894-1989) was born to Avraham and Devora (née Kotoski) Hildesheim in Sompolno, Poland, formerly imperial Russia. Leon was one of eight children born to Avraham and Devora. While some of the Hildesheim children were born in Europe others were born while the family resided in Palestine. While living in Palestine Leon volunteered with the Jewish Legion in WWI. Leon was a corporal in the Zion Mule Corps which saw action in the Gallipoli campaign. After his military service Leon relocated to England and became a naturalized British subject. It was at this time that he changed his surname to Gildesgame. With his brother Pierre, Leon became the proprietor of Gildesgame Brothers Ltd. and traveled frequently to the United States where he settled with his American born wife Ruth. throughout his life Leon was committed to philanthropic causes and he served on the Jewish Conciliation Board of America. During the Holocaust many of Leon's siblings were dispersed across the globe. One brother, Aron, was arrested in France in 1942 and deported to Auschwitz. A sister, Ala Brysz, and her daughter Yanina were killed in the Warsaw ghetto.
System of Arrangement
Arranged as a single series.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Holder of Originals
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Myron L. Gildesgame, son of Leon Gildesgame.

Rights and 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.

 
Record last modified: 2023-02-24 14:34:21
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn611438