Max and Rose Feld papers

Identifier
irn42998
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.602.1
Dates
1 Jan 1905 - 31 Dec 1957, 1 Jan 1905 - 31 Dec 1989
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • German
  • Polish
  • French
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

oversize folder

13

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Raisa (Rose) Szteinberg was born in Pinsk, Poland in 1917 to Michel and Tauba Szteinberg. She had two other sisters; Clara and Alexandria (Sara). When she was five, the Szteinberg family moved to Warsaw, Poland. Rose was born without hearing, and attended a school for the deaf, but her parents were not pleased with the school. Rose was sent to a school for the Jewish deaf in Berlin. While there, she met Max Feld, a deaf classmate. The two attended school until graduation in 1932. Towards the end of their enrollment, the two began to date, and continued even after Rose’s departure back to Warsaw with her family. The Szteinberg family moved again in 1933 to Paris, France, in response to the rise of anti-Semitism spreading through Poland. Max Feld, continued to live in Berlin, until he was forced to leave the country as a refugee. Max, his parents Wolf and Martha, and his brothers Sidney and Alfred, all moved to Paris as well. Max later married Rose, and in 1941, Rose gave birth to Esther. Only a few months later, the occupation of France began, and the Gestapo took Max to Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp. Rose visited him several times at the camp, before Max was eventually sent to and killed at Auschwitz. In the meantime, Rose worked at a coat factory for the Germans in Paris, before going into hiding along with her mother Tauba, her sister Sara, and Esther, thanks to the aid of friends Marcel and Marcella Demay. Soon, Rose and her family traveled to Villepinte and stayed with several other families. For a time, the Treme family took in Esther while Rose, Tauba and Sara stayed in the farmhouse. They stayed hidden until the end of the war. Soon after, the family attempted to gain visas to Venezuela and the United States. They attempted to go to New York but arrived in Galveston, Texas, before eventually making it to their intended destination. Their stay was temporary though, and the family moved to Caracas, Venezuela, for three years, until Rose met Ted Rosman in 1950 on another trip to New York City. The two married and Rose and Esther were granted US citizenship.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Esther Feld Weisel

The Max and Rose Feld papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by their daughter Esther Weisel, in 2005.

Scope and Content

The Max and Rose Feld papers contain documents and photographs relating to Max and Rose Feld, a deaf married couple and their daughter Esther. The Feld family lived in Paris, France, before Max was taken to Beaune-la-Rolande before being sent to Auschwitz. Rose and Esther were kept hidden by a number of families in Paris and the countryside, before the war ended and they immigrated to the United States. Included in the collection are various items relating to identification and immigration, such as marriage certificates, identity cards, passports, visa applications, affidavits, and other items. Also included are photographs of the Feld family, as well as Max and Rose’s parents prior to the war, and of Esther as a child. The Max and Rose Feld papers contain documents and photographs from their time at school in Berlin, to living married in France, to Rose and Esther’s time in hiding from the Germans and subsequent immigration to United States after the war. Included in the documents are birth certificates for Esther, marriage certificates for Max and Rose, and numerous identification documents such as work passes, membership cards, and Rose’s Polish passport. The immigration papers include applications for visas, an affidavit, and Rose’s naturalization certificate for the United States. Other items include documents pertaining to Max Feld’s death in Auschwitz and receiving reparations, an insurance registration card for Rose, and a copy of the bylaws for the Organization of Jewish Deaf in Berlin. The photographs in this collection are primarily of the Feld family, with some photos of Max and Rose and Esther as a newborn. Other photos are of Max Feld’s parents and brothers, and Rose’s parents and sisters, photos of Max while he was imprisoned in the Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp. Some photos are post-World War II, and show Rose along with her sister, mother, and Esther traveling to the United States and Caracas, Venezuela. The oversized folder contains several sheets from a photo album of Esther as a child in France, South America and the United States.

System of Arrangement

The Max and Rose Feld papers are arranged as two series: •Series 1: Documents, 1934-1989 •Series 2: Photographs, 1905-1947

People

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.