Henry Blumenstein family papers

The Henry Blumenstein family papers consist of wartime and postwar correspondence among members of the Blumenstein family, with other relatives and friends, and with the Dijkstra family; photographs of the Blumenstein and Dijkstra families in Austria, the Netherlands, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic; and subject files including Franz Blumenstein’s date book, Henry Blumenstein’s identification papers, and emigration and immigration papers. Correspondence primarily consists of letters, postcards, and telegrams between Franz and Elsa Blumenstein and, after the war, between Franz and Henry Blumenstein and between Franz Blumenstein and Johannes and Sjoukje Dijkstra. Additional correspondence includes messages from Regina Blumenstein, Fini Hillburn, and other family members and friends. This series includes a postcard from Franz en route to Venezuela, descriptions of Henry, Elsa, and Regina’s plans to emigrate, letters from aboard the MS St. Louis, letters from quarantine in Holland, and notifications to Franz of the death of his mother and wife. Many of the letters from Henry to Franz are written on printed stationery that Franz had sent Henry. Photographs depict Franz, Elsa, and Henry Blumenstein, Regina Blumenstein‐Frank, the Dijkstra family, Adolf Frankenstein, and the homes where Elsa and Henry Blumenstein were hidden in the Netherlands. The photographs were taken in Vienna, Havana, Sosúa, and the Netherlands. Subject files include Franz Blumenstein’s date book, Henry Blumenstein’s identification papers, and emigration and immigration papers. Franz Blumenstein used the date book as a general purpose notebook to record contact information, his emigration from Austria to the United States via Latin America and eventual return to Austria, correspondence, and accounts. Henry Blumenstein’s identification papers include an Austrian birth certificate, a Dutch child evacuee card in Henry’s false name, and a Dutch identity card for aliens. Emigration and immigration papers include Cuban and Dominican papers regarding the Blumenstein’s emigration plans, correspondence with the Hamburg‐ America Line, the Dominican Republic Settlement Association, the Comité voor Joodsche Vluchtelingen, and the Department of State, and a registration certificate documenting Franz Blumenstein’s return to Austria.

The Henry Blumenstein family papers are arranged as three series: I. Correspondence, 1938-1967 (bulk 1938-1946), II. Photographs, 1916-1994, III. Subject files, 1935-1973