Kleinberg family papers

The Kleinberg family comprises Wilhelm and Antonia Kleinberg’s six children, their spouses, and children: Zofia Minder (Izydor), Irena Kirsch (Isaak), Edward (Maria Rembisz), Paulina Keiner (Ferdynand), Juliusz (Sabina Goldfinger), and Roman (Alicia Janowska). Originally from Krakow, where Wilhelm owned a photography studio, the Kleinberg family was spread throughout Poland at the time of Nazi occupation in 1939. Nearly the entire family perished in the Holocaust. Wilhelm and Antonia were both shot by the Gestapo in 1942 after fleeing from Krakow to Rabka. Zofia, the eldest of the Kleinberg children, remained in Krakow and was deported to Stutthof, where she died in 1945. Her husband, Izydor and son, Jerzy fled to Lwow, where they lived with Roman, the youngest Kleinberg child. In 1941, they were arrested by the Gestapo and deported to the Soviet Union. Izydor and Roman both died of typhus in Uzbekistan. Jerzy survived a shooting in Uzbekistan and escaped to England, where he died from endocardia in 1945. Roman’s wife, Alicia, and daughters, Anna and Ewa survived the war with the help of a close family friends, Lola Schiffeldrinn and Helena Lgocka. The girls hid briefly on a farm until Alicia obtained fake identification papers (Kennkarte) for them. Irena, a music teacher who was widowed before the war, escaped to England by way of Romania. Edward, his wife Maria, and Paulina were the only other Kleinberg family members to survive.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Anna Kleinberg Janowska Ciońćka and Ewa Kleinberg Janowska Boiseé

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

The Kleinberg family papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2011 by Anna Kleinberg Janowska Ciońcka and Ewa Kleinberg Janowska Boiseé. Much of the correspondence was donated in June, however many of the papers relating to Izydor Minder and the other portion of correspondence was donated in December and given the accession number 2011.382.1. It has since been unified with this collection under accession number 2011.136.1.