Evelyn Klein Altman papers

Evelyn Klein Altman was born on June 12, 1930, near Vienna, Austria, to Maria Hermanda. Her mother later married Miklos (Nicolaus) Klein and she and Evelyn adopted his last name. By 1939, many Jews were seeking to escape countries and regions that, like Austria, were under the control of Nazi Germany, or, like Hungary, were close allies. In 1939, the Kleins acquired entry visas and landing permits for Havana, Cuba, and purchased tickets for the Hamburg-Amerika luxury liner, Ms. St. Louis. The family left Hamburg, Germany, for Havana aboard the ship on May 13, 1939. They reached Havana on May 27. The Kleins were among the 28 passengers, out of 937, whose landing permits for Cuba and visas for the United States were considered valid by the Cuban government. The ship, with the remaining passengers, nearly all Jewish refugees from Nazi controlled countries, was forced to return to Europe. The Kleins disembarked in Havana, where they stayed until 1941 when they left for the United States. Hermanda died in 1988. Evelyn married and had three children. She died in Denver, Colorado, age 71, on July 5, 2001.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Don Altman

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

Don Altman donated the Evelyn Klein Altman papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010.