- Description
- The collection documents the experiences of Emil Spiro, originally of Butzbach, Germany, who survived the Holocaust in Switzerland after arriving there in 1939 on a Kindertransport. The collection primarily consists of Swiss documents, immigration paperwork, and correspondence.
Biographical materials include immigration paperwork, restitution files, and documents related to Emil’s life as a refugee in Switzerland from 1939-1947. Swiss documents also include papers requiring Emil to report to an immigrant labor camp in 1945, and letters from the Red Cross regarding his efforts to learn the fate of his family.
Correspondence consists of letters received by Emil from his family, friends, and various
immigration agencies. Family correspondence includes letters received by Emil from his parents in Butzbach until their deportation in September 1942, as well as letters exchanged from various family members during and after the war. Personal correspondence includes wartime and postwar letters received from friends and fellow refugees. The bulk of the Swiss immigration agencies correspondence are letters from staff of Schweizer Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder and Basler Hilfe für Emigrantenkinder.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1939-1966
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Saguna Severson, David Spiro and Lenny Spiro
- Collection Creator
- Emil E. Spiro
- Biography
-
Emil Ernst Spiro (1927-2016) was born on March 18, 1927 in Butzbach, Germany to Leo Spiro and Nanny Spiro. His father, Leo Spiro (1890-1942). was born on October 1, 1890 in Butzbach to Emil Spiro and Rose Spiro (née Rothschild). His mother, Nanny Spiro (1890-1942) was born Nanny or Nany Meyerfeld on March 25, 1890 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany to Salomon Meyerfeld and Nany Meyerfeld. Emil had two siblings: Frank Ferdiand Spiro (1930-1942) and Resi Spiro (1924-1942)
In January 1939 Emil was placed on a Kindertransport to Switzerland from Germany. He lived in Basel for the duration of the war, and received letters from his family in Butzbach until September 1942. His parents and siblings were deported from Butzbach by the Gestapo on September 8, 1942 to Treblinka killing center where they were murdered.
In 1945 Emil was interned for a time in a Swiss labor camp for immigrants and refugees. In 1947 he immigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Marine Flasher. He married fellow Holocaust survivor Jaffa Grajower in 1950, and they had three children: David, Saguna, and Lenny.
