Kim family papers

Izchek Mendel (Max) Kim (1900-1970) was born on 23 October 1900 in Łódź, Poland to parents Srul and Brajndla Kim. During the interwar period Max relocated from Poland to Berlin. In Berlin Max met and married Regina Tenenbaum.

Ryfka Chaja (Regina) Kim (1895-1969) was born on 14 August 1895 in Warsaw, Poland to Israel Mordka and Rajsla Tenenbaum. Israel and Rajsla raised a large family and Regina grew up among 8 brothers and sisters. As a young woman Regina relocated to Berlin from Poland and found work for a time as a seamstress.

The couple married in 1929 and lived among extended relatives, including Regina’s sister Mimi Korngold and Mimi’s husband Chaim (sometimes referred to as Felix). In 1931 Regina and Max’s daughter Betti was born (later Betty Kim Rudolph). Together Regina and Max were the proprietors of a clothing factory. Max worked as the merchandiser of the business which also employed members of the Kim’s extended family. While the Kim family observed religious holidays they did not keep Kosher and were more secular in their daily life. In the early 1930s Max joined the Berliner Zionistiche Vereinigung (The Berlin Zionist Association) with his brother-in-law Chaim Korngold.

In 1936 Max’s younger brother Jacob, who had immigrated to the United States shortly after the First World War, offered to sponsor the Kim family’s immigration to the United States. Jacob, aware of rising Antisemitism in Germany, was concerned about the family’s safety and was insistent that the Kims, particularly Betty, should leave Germany. After initial reticence the entire Kim family began efforts to emigrate. Jacob, a resident of Illinois, appealed to his State Representative Edwin M. Schaefer for assistance on behalf of his loved ones. Rep. Schaefer was successful in interceding with then Secretary of State Cordell Hull and in May 1937 the Kim’s were awarded their immigration visas to the United States. The following August Max, Regina, and Betty sailed for New York City aboard the SS President Harding. Upon their arrival in the United States the Kims settled in Missouri where they operated a clothing store. Three years later Regina’s sister and brother-in-law, Mimi and Chaim Korngold, were successful in fleeing Germany and joined the Kims in Missouri. In the first years of the Second World War the Kims and Korngolds remained in contact with their loved ones in Germany and Poland. This contact ceased in the course of the Holocaust as family members perished.