Overview
- Description
- The Selma Wideroff papers consist of correspondence, reports, and photographs documenting Selma Wideroff’s work for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Germany from 1945‐1946 in the Bergen‐Belsen displaced persons camp and later at the Blankenese children's center on the Warburg Estate near Hamburg.
Correspondence and reports include descriptions of Wideroff’s work in Europe, the use of the Warburg estate, activities in the British Zone, displaced communities in cities around Germany, directives for education programs. This series also includes JDC letters of introduction and of recommendation for Wideroff, her movement orders, and her reports on her radio interviews about her activities in Europe.
Photographs depict Selma Wideroff and other staff members and children at the Bergen‐Belsen DP camp and the Blankenese children’s center. - Date
-
inclusive:
1945-1949
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Selma Wideroff
- Collection Creator
- Selma Wideroff
- Biography
-
Selma (Sally) Wideroff (1913‐2011) was born Selma Bendremer in New York City. She obtained degrees in child growth and development and joined the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in November 1945. She served first in the Bergen‐Belsen displaced persons (DP) camp as the liaison between representatives of the JDC, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the DP camp's Central Jewish Committee. She also worked to establish educational, recreational and cultural programs. Later she supervised renovation of the Warburg Estate near Hamburg which became the Blankenese children’s center for children from Bergen‐Belsen without families. She served as the JDC's child welfare specialist at the center. In April 1946 she escorted a group of orphans to Marseilles on the first leg of their journey to Palestine as part of the first postwar Youth Aliyah transport. After she returned home in December 1946, she worked as a field representative for the JDC.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Genre/Form
- Photographs.
- Extent
-
11 folders
- System of Arrangement
- The Selma Wideroff papers are arranged as two series: I. Correspondence and reports, 1945-1949 , II. Photographs, 1945-1946
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Copyright retained on parts of the collection created by the donor. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
- Copyright Holder
- Ms. Selma Wideroff
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Selma Wideroff donated the Selma Wideroff papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995, 2001, and 2004. Accessions previously cataloged as 2001.61.1, 2001.86.1, and 2004.316.1 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.
- Primary Number
- 1995.A.1189.1
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-24 15:13:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn90841
Additional Resources
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- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
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Also in This Collection
Raincoat
Object
Selma Bendremer used the raincoat while working for the Joint Distribution Committee in Germany and France after World War II.