Deutsch family papers

Identifier
irn500053
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2000.93
Dates
1 Jan 1865 - 31 Dec 1972
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
  • Czech
  • English
  • French
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

9

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Harry Deutsch was born in 1938 to a German family living in Katowice. He immigrated to the United States in April 1939 with his mother, Stella Deutsch (1901-1997), twin sister, Helga Meta, and older brother, Hans Günther. His father followed later. Stella Deutsch's parents, Berthold and Sophie Storch, had been living in Čeladná. In September 1942 they were deported from Ostrava to Theresienstadt. The following month they were deported to Treblinka where they were killed.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

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

The Deutsch family papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Harry Deutsch in 2000.

Scope and Content

The Deutsch family papers include biographical materials, correspondence, and photographs documenting Stella Deutsch’s family and their immigration to the United States, her Pollitzer and Gerova relatives’ survival in Žilina and Vienna, and her parents’ deportation to Theresienstadt. Documents include Stella Deutsch’s passport, a postcard to Stella from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, her Austrian social security card, three French ten franc notes, correspondence, and black and white photographs. Correspondence includes letters from Stella Deutsch’s aunt and uncle Irma and Janko Gerova, another uncle and aunt Illos and Berta Pollitzer, and her parents Berthold and Sophie Storch. Letters from the Gerovas describe their hiding in the forest during the last months of the war, their postwar lives in Žilina, Irma’s loneliness, and the couple’s gratitude for the parcels the Deutsch family sent them. Letters from the Pollitzers describe their wartime and postwar lives in Vienna and news of relatives. A letter and postcard from Berthold and Sophie Storch addressed to the Pollitzers date from around the time of their deportation to Theresienstadt. Letters from friends and family include a note to Isidor Pollitzer indicating Berthold and Sophie Storch had been transported to Theresienstadt, a postcard from Berta Pollitzer to Berthold Storch at Theresienstadt, an envelope from J. Glassman, and letters from Rosa Sigmund, W. M. Pollitzer, and Ernst Deutsch describing their wartime and postwar experiences. Photographs depict Illos and Berta Pollitzer, a group including a young Hans Günther Deutsch holding an accordion, a family home in Kunčice, Sophie and Berthold Storch, and unidentified people, possibly family members, in 19th century clothing.

System of Arrangement

The Deutsch family papers are arranged as a single series: I. Deutsch family papers, approximately 1865-1972

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.