Peter Feigl papers
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Overview
- Description
- The Peter Feigl papers consist of correspondence, diaries, identification papers, photographs, printed materials, and photocopies documenting Feigl’s wartime experiences in summer camps, children’s homes, and schools in Condom (Gers), Le Chambon‐sur‐Lignon (Haute‐Loire) and Figeac (Lot), his teachers and classmates there, his escape to Switzerland, immigration to the United States, memorials to the deportations of Jews from France at Drancy, and the work of the American Friends Service Committee with Jewish refugees in France.
Correspondence includes letters from Peter and his parents in France to his mother’s stepmother, Flora Bornstein, in New York dated 1941 and 1942 describing their efforts to escape Europe, Peter’s life in children’s homes in France, and their concerns about food. This series also includes later correspondence addressed to Peter from Flora (signed “Alala”), Anneli and Joseph Blumberg (Flora’s daughter and her husband), Siegmund Kleczewer (Peter’s uncle in London), and S.E. Gersone, with whom Peter lived in Switzerland after his arrival in 1944, wartime letters from his future wife Leonie Warschauer’s family, and correspondence from aid agencies that helped Peter emigrate after the war.
The collection includes two diaries kept by Peter Feigl, the first at a summer camp in Condom (Gers) and at the Les Grillons children’s home in Le Chambon‐sur‐Lignon, and the second at the College Champollion boarding school in Figeac. He began the first diary upon learning that his parents had been deported, dedicated the diary to them, and included a photograph of each of them. The diaries describe his daily life in France, a failed attempt to send him to the United States, his reactions to learning news about the war, and his escape to Switzerland.
Identification papers include two Swiss identification documents for Peter Feigl, one documenting his refugee status and one documenting his identity.
Photographs depict Peter Feigl, his classmates and teachers, and his surroundings in Berlin, Brussels, France, and Switzerland. Locations include Auch, Marseille, Château Montéléone, Condom, Talloires, and Lötschental. The series includes a portrait of Daniel Trocmé and photographs of a visit André Trocmé made to Les Grillons. Also included are depictions of Peter’s parents Ernst and Agnes Feigl, Ernst’s mother Fanny Feigl and sisters Marianne Feigl and Hermine Hoffman, Ernst’s first wife Marion Jlling, and members of the Warschauer family.
Printed materials include photocopied and original documentation about Jean Patrick Lebel’s film Cite de la Muette, the Drancy Camp Historic Museum, and the Conservatoire Historique du Camp de Drancy.
Reference materials from the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee consist of photocopies Peter Feigl made of 1942 documents held by the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee. The documents include telegrams, reports, letters, memoranda, and a diary entry recording the Friends’ work with Jewish refugees in France, deportations, Andre Trocmé, Marc Boegner, Pierre-Marie Théas, Ross McClelland, Donald A. Lowrie, Burritt M. Hiatt, children’s colonies, and Rivesaltes. - Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1899-2012
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Peter Ernst Feigl
- Collection Creator
- Peter Feigl
- Biography
-
Peter Feigl was born Klaus Feigl on March 1, 1929 in Berlin, Germany to Ernst Feigl and Agnes Feigl (née Bornstein, 1904-1942). His father, Ernst Feigl (1888-1942), worked as a mechanical engineer for Denes & Friedman. The family moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia (Prague, Czech Republic) in 1936 for Ernst’s job, and then Vienna, Austria in 1937. Shortly after the German-annexation of Austria in March 1938, the family moved to Brussels, Belgium where Ernst could commute to his firm’s office in Antwerp. Agnes’s stepmother, Flora Bornstein, also lived close to the family.
After the German invasion and occupation of Belgium in May 1940, Ernst was arrested. Peter, Agnes, and Flora fled Belgium to France. After a brief internment in Gurs, Flora went to Toulouse, and Peter and Agnes found housing in Auch (Gers). Agnes found employment with a refugee agency also jointly operated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Swiss Red Cross. Ernst, who had been imprisoned in St. Cyprien and Gurs, was released due to his failing health and the family was reunited in Auch.
In summer 1942, Peter attended an AFSC summer camp at Château Montéléone in Condom (Gers). While he was there, his parents were arrested in a round-up of Jews by the French police. They were deported via Le Vernet and Drancy to Auschwitz where they were murdered. Peter was protected from deportation by AFSC staff, and they made arrangements for him to be on a children’s transport to the United States. The trip was canceled due to the Allied landing in North Africa, and in January 1943 he was moved to the Les Grillons children’s home in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (Haute-Loire) under the guidance of Daniel Trocmé. In September he was moved to College Champollion, a boarding school in Figeac (Lot). In May 1944, the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) arranged for his escape into Switzerland where he remained for the duration of the war.
Peter immigrated to the United States in July 1946 with the aid of relatives including his grandmother Flora, who managed to immigrate to the U.S. in 1941. He married Leonie Warschauer in 1954 and they had two daughters.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Photographs. Diaries. Correspondence.
- Extent
-
2 boxes
2 oversize folders
1 oversize box
- System of Arrangement
- The Peter Feigl papers are arranged as six series:
Series 1: Correspondence, 1935-1989
Series 2: Diaries, approximately 1942‐1995
Series 3: Identification papers, 1945‐1946
Series 4: Photographs, circa 1889-2012
Series 5: Printed materials about Drancy memorials, approximately 1986‐1994
Series 6: Reference materials from the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee, approximately 1993
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The donor retains copyright to the diaries and translations. Material from the American Friends Service Committee may be under copyright from that organization. Other 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.
- Copyright Holder
- Feigl, Mr. Peter
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Jews--Germany--Berlin. Jews, German--France. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--France. France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Diaries. Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Condom (Gers, France) Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (France) Figeac (France) Switzerland. Berlin (Germany)
- Personal Name
- Feigl, Ernst, 1888-1942. Feigl, Agnes, 1904-1942.
- Corporate Name
- American Friends Service Committee Drancy (Internament camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Peter Feigl donated the Peter Feigl papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992, 1995, 2008, and 2014. Accessions previously cataloged as 1992.175, 1995.A.0965, and 2008.391.1 have 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.
The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign. - Special Collection
-
Save Their Stories
- Record last modified:
- 2024-08-23 09:00:25
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn76089
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