Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

John and Harriet Isaack papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 1992.53.45

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    John and Harriet Isaack papers
    Loading

    Please select from the following options:

    Overview

    Description
    The John and Harriet Isaack papers consist of John’s description of his wartime experiences, an original drawing, and biographical, photographic, and printed materials documenting the Isaack’s escape from Germany, life in occupied Shanghai, and immigration to the United States.
    Biographical materials include identification papers, birth and death certificates, membership cards, vaccination records, and letters of recommendation documenting John and Harriet Isaack and Hermann Bondy, their emigration from Germany, registration in Shanghai, Hermann’s death, John’s and Harriet’s refugee and displaced person statuses, John’s work for the Army Exchange Service, and his participation in an art exhibition in Shanghai. This series also includes a certificate indicating Hermann Bondy had received the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer for his German military service during World War I.
    The collection includes an original black and white advertisement drawn by John Isaack in 1946 urging authorities to assist Jewish refugees in Shanghai.
    John Isaack’s personal narrative describes his prewar life as an art student in Berlin, meeting his wife, working for the Berliner Jüdischer Kulturbund, his escape to Shanghai and life there before and after the Hongkew Ghetto was established, his immigration to the United States, and the reestablishment of his career.
    Photographic materials include four photograph albums and nine mounted photographs depicting John and Harriet Isaack and the Jewish community in occupied and liberated Shanghai and the Isaacks in postwar San Francisco. This series also includes a handful of photographs of pre-war Germany and postwar travel within the United States. Many of the photographs were taken by the Isaack’s family friend, Fred Singer.
    Printed materials related to occupied and liberated Shanghai include a copy of Rules and Regulations of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps Club, an invitation and brochure for an exhibition of Jewish artists that included artwork by John Isaack, a copy of a 1948 issue of the Shanghai Jewish Youth Community Center’s publication Future, and a photocopy of the cover page of a 1946 issue of the same publication. Additional materials include an article about the Berliner Jüdischer Kulturbund, a brochure from the 1980 “Shanghai Reunion,” and four copies of the Hongkew Chronicle published by the reunion committee.
    Date
    inclusive:  1930-1991
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of John and Harriet Isaack
    Collection Creator
    John L. Isaack
    Harriet Isaack
    Biography
    John Isaack (1912-2008) was born Johannes Isaack in Berlin to Felix and Rosa Isaack. He worked for the Jewish Kulturbund as a set painter alongside costume seamstress Harriet Bondy (1909-2003), born in Hohenlimburg to Hermann and Olga Bondy. The couple married in 1937 and left Germany for Shanghai along with Harriet’s father in 1939. In Shanghai, John worked at a White Russian advertising agency and Harriet as a waitress until they were moved to the Hongkew ghetto. John became a camp guard, and Hermann died of dysentery. John and Harriet survived the war, immigrated to California in 1947, and became American citizens in 1952. John’s father committed suicide before deportation, and his mother perished in the Holocaust.

    Physical Details

    Genre/Form
    Photographs.
    Extent
    1 box
    4 oversize boxes
    1 oversize folder
    System of Arrangement
    The John and Harriet Isaack papers are arranged as five series:
    Series 1: Biographical materials, 1935-1952
    Series 2: Original artwork, 1946
    Series 3: Personal narrative, 1991
    Series 4: Photographic materials, approximately 1939-1947
    Series 5: Printed materials, 1939-1988

    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

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    John and Harriet Isaack donated the John and Harriet Isaack papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992 in memory of their parents. The accessions previously cataloged as 1992.53 and RG-03.011 (1992.A.0036) has been incorporated into this collection.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Primary Number
    1992.53.45
    Record last modified:
    2023-03-30 15:12:13
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn631343