Sonja Schulmann Schwartz papers

Sonja Schulmann Schwartz was born in 1927 in Marburg, Germany, to Russian-born Hirsch (Harry) Schulmann (b. 1893) and Frieda Lilienstern Schulmann (1896-1936). Hirsch was briefly imprisoned at Dachau following Kristallnacht and immigrated to the United States in 1939 with Sonja using an affidavit of support provided by his cousin, Abraham Pianin, from Youngstown, OH. Frieda’s sister, Irma Golnick, was deported from Kassel, Germany, to the Riga ghetto in December 1941 with her husband Simon and their children Vera, Horst, and Werner. Simon was transferred to an unknown location in December 1943 and perished. Vera is believed to have perished at Auschwitz in 1944. Irma, Horst, and Werner Golnick survived Stutthof. Frieda’s other sister, Berta Klarmann, was also deported to Riga along with her daughter, Rita, in December 1941, and both are believed to have perished at Auschwitz. Berta’s husband Samuel Klarmann was imprisoned at Buchenwald and perished in July 1940.