John and Margot Loewenberg papers

Identifier
irn500534
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1995.A.0265.1
  • 1995.21.1
  • 1995.21.2
  • 1995.21.3
Dates
1 Jan 1938 - 31 Dec 1947
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

6

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Margot Loewenberg was born in 1922 to Julius and Lily Stern in Frankfurt, Germany. She also had a younger brother named Werner. Her family managed a wholesale clothing store in downtown Frankfurt. As anti-Semitic laws began to take hold in Germany in the 1930s, the Hebrew schools which Margot attended were closed. She was sent to a children’s home in Cologne, where she learned child care. She stayed there until the Kristallnacht, where many nearby Jewish synagogues and businesses were destroyed. Margot was then sent back to her family in Frankfurt, where the Germans had confiscated Julius’ business. With not many options, Margot was accepted on a Kindertransport, and was sent by herself to Holland, and took a boat to London. Once in England, she helped acquire affidavits for her brother and parents. After the family had made it to England, they acquired visas for immigration to the United States, and set sail in March, 1940. It was while living in Chicago that Margot met her future husband John, and they were married after his return from deployment in the U.S. Army. Margot passed away in 2013.

John Loewenberg was born in 1912 to Hermann and Ella Loewenberg in Bielefeld, Germany. He had one sister named Edith. In 1941, John escaped Germany and sailed for America out of Portugal. After staying in Chicago, Illinois, he met his future wife Margot, and enlisted in the Army, where he served in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. When he returned from service in 1946, he learned that his sister Edith and brother-in-law Rudi were killed in the Poniatowa concentration camp, while his parents were killed in Auschwitz. He later married Margot and opened a candy store in Chicago. John passed away in 1992.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Margot Loewenberg

The John and Margot Loewenberg papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum through two separate donations in 1994 by Margot Loewenberg. These two donations were given different accession numbers: 1995.21 and 1995.A.0265. These papers have since been merged together, and can be located under one accession number: 1995.A.0265.

Scope and Content

The John and Margot Loewenberg papers contain documents from the separate journeys of Margot Stern and John Loewenberg, prior to their marriage. The documents pertaining to Margot include a name and luggage tag from her travel aboard the Kindertransport, visa requests, and an identity card issued to her while she was living in England. The documents pertaining to John include personal correspondence and letters sent through the Red Cross, inquiries made towards his family and property after the war, two photographs, and a postcard of the ship he sailed on when he immigrated to the United States.

System of Arrangement

The John and Margot Loewenberg papers are arranged as a single series.

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.