Levy and Lustig families papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 2017.554.2

Overview

Description: The collection documents the prewar, wartime, and postwar lives of the Levy family of Cologne, Germany, and the Lustig family of Leipzig, Germany including Fritz Levy’s World War I experiences as a prisoner of war in Omsk, Fritz and Käte Levy’s immigration to London in 1933, the forced sale of his family business in Germany, and restitution claims. The collection includes extensive family correspondence, photographs, family history, financial documents, poems, diaries, and personal narratives.

Biographical material consists of family books, family trees, grades, birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, identification papers, German passports, immigration documents, financial documents regarding the forced sales of Fritz’s business, military papers, account books, and papers related to Käte’s sister Margot’s death in 1928. There are also papers related to Fritz’s WWI experiences, including his imprisonment in Omsk, and restitution paperwork related to claims filed by both the Levy and Lustig families.

Correspondence primarily consists of extensive amounts of pre-war letters exchanged between members of the Levy and Lustig families including Fritz’s letters to his family while he was serving in WWI, correspondence between Fritz and Käte during his business travels, and letters to Fritz and Käte from their daughter Lotte while she was in school. The bulk of the Lustig family correspondence are letters to Fritz and Käte from her parents and other relatives. There are also five bound books with typed transcribed letters from Fritz to his family during WWI.

Writings include Fritz’s WWI diaries, Käte’s diary about Lotte’s first six years, Lotte’s wartime diary she kept in England as a teenager, her personal narratives she wrote in 2002-2004 reflecting on her family’s history, and numerous poems written by various members of the Lustig family.

Photographs primarily consist of prints and albums of pre-war depictions of the extended Levy and Lustig families. Also included are Fritz’s WWI photographs and depictions of Fritz, Käte, and Lotte in England before, during, and after the war.

Printed material includes a copy of British Millinery with an article on Käte (page 21), business cards, clippings (primarily in German), postcards, and a Yom Kippur program from 1938. Also included is a copy of the German children’s book Bilderbücher : Sport u. Spiel with enclosures by the family describing how Fritz saw Käte with the book and began talking with her, thus beginning their courtship.

Artwork includes bookplates, floor plan drawings, childhood drawings of Lotte, and cartoons drawn by relative Kurt Levy of Käte packing and moving in 1932 and 1933, the latter likely related to her emigration to England.

Miscellaneous material includes various notes, receipts, and pre-war documents.
Date: inclusive: circa 1825-2004
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Philip and Jeffrey Hamburger, and Annette Levey.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jeffrey Hamburger, Philip Hamburger and Annette Levey
Collection Creator: Levy family
Lustig family
Biography: Fritz Levy (Friedrich Levy, 1890-1954) was born on 1 May 1890 in Cologne, Germany to Siegmund (1848-1920) and Bertha (née Lowenberg, 1856-1915) Levy. He had two brothers, Otto and Ernst. Fritz’s father Siegmund owned a high-end hat manufacturing business called S. Levy and Sie. Fritz served as an officer in the German Army officer during World War I, and was captured in 1915. He remained a prisoner of war in Omsk until the end of the war, but was able to write to his family often. Fritz married Käte Lustig in 1923. Their daughter Lotte Edith (later Lotte Hamburger, 1924-2012) was born in 1924.

Fritz and his brothers Ernst and Otto inherited their father’s hat manufacturing business in Cologne. In 1933, after learning about his daughter Lotte getting in trouble in school for refusing to sing Nazi songs, Fritz and Käte made plans to emigrate from Cologne to England. They sent Lotte to Leipzig to live with Käte’s parents and attend a Jewish school. Fritz and Käte immigrated to London later that year, and Lotte joined them in 1934. Fritz continued to work in the hat manufacturing business, primarily with Rivoli Hats Ltd. His brother Otto left Germany in 1937, but his other brother Ernst was paralyzed and unable to leave. They were forced to sell their business in Cologne in 1939 at a loss. Fritz and Käte helped her parents immigrate to England in 1939. They also helped other relatives emigrate from Germany including Käte’s sister Alice, and her aunt Trudi.

Käte would later become the director of Kangol Hats Ltd. and Bergmann & Co. Ltd. Lotte immigrated to the United States in 1953. She married Joseph Hamburger in 1954, and they had three children, Philip, Jeffrey, and Annette.

Julius Isaac Lustig (1864-1950) was born on 29 March 1864 in Unsleben, Germany to Kalmann or Callmann (1818-1902) and Rosa (née Franken, 1828-1908) Lustig. He had at least one brother, Bernhard (b. 1862) and one sister Gretchen (later Gretchen Zander). He was a co-owner of Frank and Lustig, Leipzig, a clothing manufacturer.

Helene Henriette Lustig (née Lieberg, 1877-1966) was born on 24 August 1877 in Kassel, Germany to Max Michael (1848-1914) and Sophie (née Wulff, 1857-1933) Lieberg. She had three brothers, Ernst (1879-1897), Fritz (1886-1856), and Heinz, and one sister, Gertrud (Trudi, 1886-1956, later Gertrud Oppenheim).

Julius and Helene married in Kassel in 1900. They lived in Leipzig and had three daughters, Margot (later Margot Kaufmann, 1900-1928), Käte Edith (later Käte Levy, 1902-1998), and Alice (later Alice Fein, b. 1904). The family was wealthy and made frequent donations to their synagogue in Leipzig.

Käte married Fritz Levy in 1923. Their daughter Lotte Edith (later Lotte Hamburger, 1924-2012) was born in 1924. Fritz and his brothers Ernst and Otto inherited their father’s hat manufacturing business in Cologne. In 1933, after learning about his daughter Lotte getting in trouble in school for refusing to sing Nazi songs, Fritz and Käte made plans to emigrate from Cologne to England. They sent Lotte to Leipzig to live with Käte’s parents and attend a Jewish school. Fritz and Käte immigrated to London later that year, and Lotte joined them in 1934. Fritz continued to work in the hat manufacturing business, primarily with Rivoli Hats Ltd. His brother Otto left Germany in 1937, but his other brother Ernst was paralyzed and unable to leave. They were forced to sell their business in Cologne in 1939 at a loss. Fritz and Käte helped her parents immigrate to England in 1939. They also helped other relatives emigrate from Germany including Käte’s sister Alice, and her aunt Trudi.

Käte would later become the director of Kangol Hats Ltd. and Bergmann & Co. Ltd. Lotte immigrated to the United States in 1953. She married Joseph Hamburger in 1954, and they had three children, Philip, Jeffrey, and Annette.

Physical Details

Language: German English
Genre/Form: Photographs. Photograph albums. Correspondence. Personal narratives. Diaries.
Extent: 10 boxes
25 oversize boxes
6 oversize folders
System of Arrangement: The collection has been arranged as seven series. Series 1. Biographical material, circa 1825-circa 2004; Series 2. Correspondence, 1894-1968 and undated; Series 3. Writings, circa 1900-2004; Series 4. Photographs, circa 1880-circa 1990; Series 5. Printed material, 1912-1966 and undated; Series 6. Artwork, circa 1910-1981 and undated; Series 7. Miscellaneous, 1906-1954 and undated

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of the material(s) in this collection. 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.
Copyright Holder: Mr. Philip Hamburger

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Jews--Germany--Cologne. Jews--Germany--Leipzig. Jewish businesspeople--Germany. Jewish businesspeople--England. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations.
Geographic Name: Cologne (Germany) Leipzig (Germany) London (England) United States--Emigration and immigration. Hague (Netherlands)
Personal Name: Levy, Fritz. Levy, Käte. Levy, Siegmund. Lustig, Julius. Lustig, Helene. Lustig, Margot. Lustig, Alice. Levy, Lotte.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Philip Hamburger, Jeffrey Hamburger, and Annette Levy in 2017. Three accretions were donated in 2018. The accessions formerly cataloged as 2017.554.1, 2018.500.1, 2018.501.1, and 2018.502.1 have been incorporated into this collection.
Related Materials: Legacy Accession Number: 2017.554
Legacy Accession Number: 2018.500
Legacy Accession Number: 2018.501
Legacy Accession Number: 2018.502
Primary Number: 2017.554.2

Record last modified:: 2023-04-11 09:54:51
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn633515

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Also in Lustig and Levy family collection

The Lustig and Levy family collection includes: multiple photo albums and photo scrapbook, loose photographs, portfolio of studio photographs, framed photos, documents about the family including educational, financial, emigration/immigation records, naturalization papers, etc.; documents about the Rivoli hat company; ledger books; correspondence including letters, postcards and feldposts; restitution paperwork; newspaper clippings; calling cards; blank stationary; drivers license from the United Kingdom; handwritten pamphlet titled "Mutti"; drawing of the Cologne Cathedral; children's artwork; books filled with poetry and play; Stammbuch; children's diary from England that belonged to Lotte Levy; notebook of origami samples from early education teacher's training; typed family memoir.