Ruth B. Mandel papers

Identifier
irn521784
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1989.55.11
  • 2004.665.1
Dates
1 Jan 1937 - 31 Dec 1947
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • German
  • Spanish
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

3

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Ruth B. Mandel was born in Vienna in 1938 to Mechel Blumenstock (b. 1902-1975) and Lea Blumenstock (nee Schmelzer, 1914-2005). Mechel was imprisoned in Dachau during Kristallnacht, and Lea managed to secure his release by obtaining a visa for him to emigrate to Shanghai. In the meantime, Lea's brother, Gabriel Schmelzer, who was living in New York, arranged for the family to receive Cuban visas and purchased three tickets for them on the MS St. Louis. After the ship was turned away from Cuba, the Blumenstocks sought refuge in England. The Blumenstocks stayed in England until immigrating to the United States in 1947.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ruth B. Mandel

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

Ruth B. Mandel donated the Ruth B. Mandel papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 and 2004. The accession previously cataloged as 2004.665.1 has been incorporated into this collection.

Scope and Content

The Ruth B. Mandel papers consist of biographical materials and photographs documenting the Blumenstock family from Vienna, their effort to immigrate to the United States via Cuba aboard the MS St. Louis, and their refuge in England during the war, and their immigration to the United States in 1947. Biographical materials include certificates, correspondence, certificates, identification papers, travel documents, and military papers documenting the Blumenstock family’s efforts to immigrate to the United States via Cuba, their refuge in England, Mechel Blumenstock’s service with the British Army, and their immigration to the United States in 1947. Photographs depict Lea and Mechel Blumenstock and Ruth Mandel as a baby with her grandmother Jeneta Schmelzer in Austria, aboard the MS St. Louis, and with her parents in Spalding, England.

System of Arrangement

The Ruth B. Mandel papers are arranged as two series: I. Biographical materials, 1939-1947, II. Photographs, 1937-1943

Corporate Bodies

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.