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Freyer and Lichtenstein families papers

Document | Accession Number: 1991.A.0033.2

The collection consists of biographical material, immigration paperwork, correspondence, and photographs documenting the pre-war lives of Leo and Eva Freyer (née Lichtenstein) and their children Marion and Ursula in Berlin, their emigration from Germany to the United States in 1939, and wartime correspondence with family members and friends still in Germany. There is a small amount of material related to the Lichtenstein family of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).

Biographical material includes birth certificates, German identification cards and passports, marriage papers, documents related to Leo’s service in the German Army during WWI and his employment, Marion’s school notebooks, clippings regarding Heinz Lichtenstein and Max Lichtenstein, and documents of Hans Wolff (Marion’s future husband). Also included are pages of testimony about Flora and Paula Freyer written by Marion for Vad Vashem.

Immigration papers include correspondence and papers documenting the Freyers’ emigration from Germany in 1938-1939. Included is correspondence from Leo’s American cousin Max Lindner and the National Council of Jewish Women, both of whom helped the family secure visas. There are also two affidavits from Max and Max’s nephew Carlos Israels.

Correspondence includes a letter from Paula Freyer to Leo sent through the American Red Cross in 1942, which was the last letter received from her before she was deported to Auschwitz; postcards from Leo’s cousin Else Loewy in Berlin who was also trying to emigrate; postwar letters from Margarete Montag, a Catholic German woman who provided food and support to Flora and Paula prior to their deportation, her letters describe her last contact with them, their deportation, and conditions in Berlin; and postwar letters to Heinz Lichtenstein from Rabbi Leopold Neuhaus regarding Heinz’s father Max’s death in Theresienstadt and an orphaned child survivor Heinz adopted in 1948.

Photographs include prewar family photographs of the Freyer and Lichtenstein families, as well as a postwar image of Margarete Montag.

Date
inclusive:  1906-1985
bulk:  1938-1953
Language
German
English
Genre/Form
Photographs.
Correspondence.
Passports.
Affidavits.
Extent
1 box
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marion Freyer Wolff

About This Document

Document Creator
Freyer family
Lichtensten family
Biography
Leo Freyer (1893-1987) was born in Lyck, East Prussia (now Ełk, Poland) into a Jewish Orthodox family. His parents, Selmar (1860?-1929) and Flora (née Lewinsky, 1863-1944) had ten other children, including Pauline (Paula, 1895-1943). Leo served in World War I. He met Eva Lichtenstein while he was stationed in Königsberg, East Prussia after her father, Max Lichtenstein, opened his home to Jewish soldiers serving in the German Army.

Eva Lichtenstein (1895-1987) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) to Max (1860-1942) and Johanna (née Samuel, 1861-1935). Eva had one sister, Käthe (1890-1943), and three brothers, Erwin (1901-1993), Tony (1892-1894), and Heinz (1904-1990). Max was a prominent lawyer, member of the city council, and active in B’nai Brith.

Leo and Eva married in Königsberg in 1920. They had two daughters, Ursula Brigitte (Ulla, b. 1921) and Marion (later Marion Wolff, b. 1928). The Freyers lived in Berlin where Leo owned a button and buckle factory. By 1936, Ursula and Marion were no longer allowed to attend public schools under Nazi rule and enrolled in a private Jewish school. By 1938, Leo lost his business and began to look for ways to emigrate from Germany. He received affidavits from his American cousin Max Lindner and Max’s nephew, Carlos Israels. The Freyers received notice that they would be granted visas in July 1939 and on 15 November 1939 they left Germany for Rotterdam where they boarded the SS Rotterdam on 22 November 1939 to sail to the United States. The family stayed for a month in a shelter run by the American Jewish Congress and then settled in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1940.

Marion married Hans Wolff in 1950. Wolff was a former classmate Marion reconnected with after reading an article about him in the German-Jewish American newspaper, Aufbau. Hans and his sister Marianne escaped from Germany to England on a Kindertransport in 1939. They both immigrated to the United States, where Hans changed his name to John and joined the army. The couple adopted a German girl in 1958. Marion was a math teacher and John was a biochemist at the National Institutes of Health. Marion is also the author of three books about her life and Holocaust experiences: For Rebecca: the story of my other life, The shrinking circle: memories of Nazi Berlin, 1933-1939, and The expanding circle: an adoption odyssey.

Leo’s mother Flora perished at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1944, and his sister Paula perished at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. Eva’s father Max perished at Theresienstadt in 1942 and her sister Käthe perished at the Majdanek concentration camp in 1943.
Eva Lichtenstein (1895-1987) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) to Max (1860-1942) and Johanna (née Samuel, 1861-1935). Eva had one sister, Käthe (1890-1943), and three brothers, Erwin (1901-1993), Tony (1892-1894), and Heinz (1904-1990). Max was a prominent lawyer, member of the city council, and active in B’nai Brith.

Leo and Eva married in Königsberg in 1920 after meeting when her father opened his house to Jewish soldiers in the German Army stationed in Königsberg. They had two daughters, Ursula Brigitte (Ulla, b. 1921) and Marion (later Marion Wolff, b. 1928). They Freyers lived in Berlin where Leo owned a button and buckle factory. By 1936, Ursula and Marion were no longer allowed to attend public school and enrolled in a private Jewish school. By 1938, Leo lost his business and began to look for ways to emigrate from Germany. He received affidavits from his American cousin Max Lindner and Max’s nephew, Carlos Israels. The Freyers received notice that they would be granted visas in July 1939 and on 15 November 1939 they left Germany for Rotterdam where they boarded the SS Rotterdam on 22 November 1939 to sail to the United States. The family stayed for a month in a shelter run by the American Jewish Congress and then settled in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1940.

Eva’s father Max perished at Theresienstadt in 1942 and her sister Käthe perished at the Majdanek concentration camp in 1943.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as four series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1917-1985; Series 2. Immigration, 1937-1939; Series 3. Correspondence, 1940-1952; Series 4. Photographs, 1906-1953

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Marion Wolff in 1991, 1998, and 2004. The collections previously accessioned as 1991.A.0033, 1998.A.0293, and 2004.388.1 have been merged into this collection.
Additional Accession Number
1991.A.0033
1998.A.0293
2004.388.1
Primary Number
1991.A.0033.2

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: 2021-11-10 13:00:29
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn623010