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Letter from the Belgian Committee to Assist Jewish Refugees to Walter and Guenther Seligmann of Washington, D.C. on behalf of their relative, Ursula Seligmann.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 31719
Letter from the Belgian Committee to Assist Jewish Refugees to Walter and Guenther Seligmann of Washington, D.C. on behalf of their relative, Ursula Seligmann.

Letter from the Belgian Committee to Assist Jewish Refugees to Walter and Guenther Seligmann of Washington, D.C. on behalf of their relative, Ursula Seligmann.

Date
1940 March 15
Locale
Brussels, [Brabant] Belgium
Variant Locale
Brussel
Bruxelles
Photo Designation
JEWISH REFUGEES: SEARCH FOR SAFE HAVENS (1933-1945) -- Emigration/Refugee Assistance -- In Belgium
Photo Credit
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Ursula Seligmann Lowenstein

About This Photograph

Biography
Ursula Lowenstein (born Ursula Seligmann) is the daughter of Siegfried and Alma Seligmann. She was born on January 23, 1923 and had one sister Else. the family lived in Ronnenberg, Germany, where Siegfried was a respected cattle dealer. Realizing the danger that the Nazis posed, the Seligmanns applied to emigrate to the United States and were placed on the quota lists at the American consulate in Hamburg. During Kristallnacht, Nazi storm troopers arrested Siegfried and transported him to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Following his release, Siegfried, Alma, and Ursula purchased tickets for the St. Louis. When the ship returned to Europe in 1939, the Seligmanns were assigned to Belgium and settled in Brussels. Following the German invasion in May 1940, the Belgium police arrested Siegfried as an "enemy alien." He was transported to France and detained in les Milles, a ceramic tile factory converted to an internment camp for German and Austrian nationals. In an effort to find him, Alma and Ursula fled to France, were arrested in Paris, and transported to the Gurs internment camp. During the summer and fall of 1941, the family obtained the necessary visa to leave France. Alma and Ursula went to Marseilles to await Siegfried's release before they fled to Portugal and departed Lisbon for the United States. In November 1941 they sailed to New York aboard the Portuguese liner Colonial. The Seligmanns arrived in the United States on December 3, 1941, just days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Settling in Washington, they rejoined Else, who had succeeded in leaving Germany on her own.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Artifact Photographer
Arnold Kramer

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Ursula Seligmann Lowenstein
Source Record ID: Collections: 1991.153.15
 
Record last modified: 2008-12-24 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1110682