Curt Gutsmuth papers

Curt Gutsmuth (1905-1985) was born to Bertha (née Bermann, 1874-1945) and Emanuel (1856-c.1933) Gutsmuth. He had two brothers, Isidor (b. 1903) and Avraham (also Abraham or Alfred, b. 1912), and a sister, Erna (b. 1907). They lived near Giessen, Germany and his father owned a fabric business. Curt graduated during the First World War and worked for a painting company. In 1934, Curt immigrated to the Netherlands and helped his brother, Abraham, immigrate later that year and they settled in Rotterdam. Erna immigrated to London through the Netherlands in 1935 and Bertha immigrated to the Netherlands in 1938 where she also settled in Rotterdam. Isidor was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp in 1938, but he was released later that year because Curt was able to obtain visas for Isidor and his wife to Bolivia.

In 1938, Curt met Nelly (also Nellie, née Levi, 1911-1990) in the Netherlands. Nelly was born to Maier (1868-1933) and Jette (née Aufäuser b. 1875) Levi and had three brothers, Hugo (b. 1902), Sam (b. 1906) and Felix (b. 1912). Nelly emigrated from Germany to Rotterdam in 1935 with the help of Theo and Felix. Her mother joined her in 1938. In 1940, in order to avoid deportation, Curt, Bertha, Nelly, and Jette were forced into hiding at the home of a Christian family. In July 1942, Curt and his mother met Petrus (Piet) Brandsen. He was an underground activist who gave them fake identity cards and arranged for them to go into hiding with the van der Hoevens family, while Piet and Alberdina (Dina) hid Nelly’s brother and sister-in -law, Felix and Flora van Beek. In 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Petrus Franciscus Brandsen and his wife, Alberdina Johanna Geertruida Brandsen-Truyers as Righteous Among the Nations. Curt and Nelly were married while in hiding and they stayed in hiding until the end of the war. They had a son, Eric, in 1946 and immigrated to Uruguay in 1951.