Alzen family papers

Johann Alzen (1885-1945) and his wife, Katharina Baldus Alzen lived in Wieselstein, Germany (today Loučná, Czech Republic) with their four children: Benedikt, August, Agnes, and Albert. In May 1937, August Alzen was summoned to appear before the Hereditary Health Court who ordered his forced sterilization on the grounds of congenital feeblemindedness. In November 1941, Johann Alzen was convicted of undermining German morale and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was incarcerated in Münster, transferred to Neuengamme in May 1943, to Natzweiler, and then to Dachau in September 1944 where he died in January 1945.

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

The collection was purchased by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum from Melcher de Wit in 2001.