Ruth Olesker Geary collection

Overview

Collection Summary

Documents, correspondence, photographs, passports and tea set illustrating the experiences Osias and Seril Olesker in Vienna, Austria, and their children, Ruth and Martha, and their efforts to flee Nazi-occupied Vienna, Austria. The collection shows efforts to secure visas for all family members. Ruth and Martha were able to flee May 31, 1939, with the support of Henry Turkel, a cousin, and documents show he then tried to secure visas for Osias and Seril, who never left. They were deported to Opole, Poland in February 1941, where they were likely killed. Letters within collection indicate efforts to send packages to them, money for their possible immigration, and efforts through other means to secure any escape possible. Their son and daughter-in-law, Wilhelm and Rosa, came separately. The tea set was entrusted to Ruth by her mother and brought to the States when Ruth immigrated.

Provenance

The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019 by Joan Geary, the daughter of Ruth Olesker Geary.