Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt papers
Extent and Medium
boxes
oversize box
book enclosure
3
1
2
Creator(s)
- Leonore Goldschmidt
Biographical History
Dr. Leonore (Lore) Goldschmidt (1897-1983) was born in Gosda, Germany, near Klinge, to Wilhelm and Jenny (Marcuse) Zweig and had one sister, Martha. In 1923, Leonore married a lawyer, Ernst Goldschmidt (1885-1949) and they had two children: daughter Gertrud (b. 1924) and son Rudolf (b. 1925). Leonore worked as a teacher in Berlin at several public and private schools, but she was dismissed from teaching in 1933 because of her Jewish heritage. In 1935, Leonore opened a private Jewish school, Jüdische Privatschule Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt, as an alternative for Jewish children who could no longer attend public school. The school became an official Examination Centre of the University of Cambridge. After the school was closed in 1939, Leonore unsuccessfully attempted to move the school to the United States and create a cooperative farming settlement in North Carolina. Leonore and her family moved to England in 1939 where she continued to run the school in Folkestone, England and later in South Wales until the school closed 1941. Ernst died of cancer in 1949. Leonore attend Birmingham University and continued to work as a teacher in England until the 1960s. She died in 1983 in London.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Dr. Gertrud Thompson, daughter of Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt, donated the Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005.
Scope and Content
The Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt papers include biographical material, immigration material, correspondence, subject files, and photographs relating to the life of Leonore and her husband, Ernst Goldschmidt, in Berlin, Germany and Folkestone, England before and during WWII, as well as Leonore’s professional career as an educator. The collection also includes documents, correspondence, and photographs relating to the establishment, development, and operations of the Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt Schule, a private Jewish school originally located in Berlin, Germany. Biographical materials include a birth certificate, German passport and identification card, British naturalization paperwork, and death announcements for Leonore Goldschmidt, as well as a birth announcement, German identification card, marriage certificate, military certificates, State Exam for Assistant Judge certificate, and death announcements for Ernst Goldschmidt. The series also includes a Goldschmidt family tree and a birth certificate for Gertrud Goldschmidt, the daughter of Ernst and Leonore. Emigration and immigration materials include correspondence, affidavits, and applications relating to Ernst and Leonore’s efforts to immigrate to the United States. Correspondence includes letters from Helene Goldschmidt, Ernst’s mother, to Ernst prior to the war and letters between Ernst and Leonore about daily life and the development of the school. School records include report cards, diplomas, and professional correspondence relating to Leonore’s education and career as a teacher as well as report cards for Gertrude Goldschmidt. The Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt Schule papers include records and photocopies relating to the establishments of the Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt Schule, applications and correspondence regarding the establishment of the school as an Examination Centre, and material relating to the attempts to move the school to North Carolina and establish a cooperative farming settlement and eventual move to England. This series also includes general correspondence and staff and supply lists. Subject files include an address book, concert and theater book, and financial notebooks belonging to Ernst Goldschmidt. The series also includes research files relating to the Goldschmidt family, restitution material regarding land in North Carolina, and a constellation identification card titled “Die Neue Kosmos-Sternkarte”. Publications includes two articles relating to settlement in North Carolina and a biography of Leonore Goldschmidt’s life and her school written by her daughter, Gertrud Goldschmidt. This series also includes a newspaper from 1914 declaring the beginning of WWI and newspaper clippings. Photographic materials consist of Goldschmidt family photographs, including family vacations and their time in England, as well as photographs of activities and events at the Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt Schule.
System of Arrangement
The Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt papers are arranged as eight series: Series 1: Biographical materials, approximately 1885-1999 Series 2: Emigration and immigration materials, 1938-1941 Series 3: Correspondence, approximately 1914-1999 Series 4: School records, approximately 1921-1979 Series 5: Dr. Leonore Goldschmidt Schule papers, approximately 1935-1962 Series 6: Subject files, 1903-2003, and undated Series 7: Publications, approximately 1914-2005 and undated Series 8: Photographic material, approximately 1936-1960
People
- Goldschmidt, Ernst.
- Goldschmidt, Helene.
- Goldschmidt, Gertrud.
- Goldschmidt, Leonore.
- Zweig, Wilhelm.
Subjects
- England--Emigration and immigration--History--1933-1945.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Jews--Germany--Berlin.
- Jewish day schools.
- Folkestone (England)
- Private schools--Germany.
- Teachers.
- Berlin (Germany)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations.
Genre
- Correspondence.
- Passports.
- Document
- Photographs.