Hendel and Weissman families papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize folder
1
1
Creator(s)
- Hendel family
Biographical History
Eisig Yitchak Hendel (1903-1992; later Isaac Handy) was born in 1903 in the village of Turza Wielka, Poland to David and Reisel Hendel. He had one brother Wolf. He married Hana Sarah Weissman in 1927 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (present day Zagreb, Croatia). Hana (later Hana Hendel Handy) 1908-1998) was born in 1908 in Ruda Różaniecka, Poland to Mordechai Weissman and Yetta Schneider-Weissman. She had one brother, Samuel, and three sisters, Bertha (1911-1997), Haika (1921-2011), and Darinka (b. 1922). Eisig and Hana had two children, Rut (b. 1935, later Tamar Hendel-Fishman) and David (b. 1928), both born in Zagreb. They owned a dry goods store. After the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the family went into hiding and sought ways to escape. Hana and Rut left Zagreb first, followed by Eisig and David soon after. They were joined by Hana’s mother Yetta, and her sister Bertha and her two sons Volko and Herman in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Prior to fleeing Zagreb, Yetta’s husband Mordechai and Bertha’s husband Aron were both killed. The family was then able get to Rovigo, Italy. They remained there until the German invasion of Italy in 1943. They fled to Rome, and lived there using false papers. In August 1944 the Hendels were able to get on a refugee ship, the USNS Henry Gibbins, and sail to the United States. They were relocated to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York. By 1946, the family moved to New York City, settling in Flushing, Queens. David served in the Korean War, and later became a dentist. Rut became a public school teacher in New York and Maryland, and later became an art therapist. Eisig, who had apprenticed as a jeweler before the war, found work in that profession. Hana’s sister Bertha and her sons Vilko and Herman also immigrated to the United States. Her mother Yetta and her sisters Haika and Darinka immigrated to Brazil after the war.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Tamar Hendel-Fishman
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Tamar Hendel-Fishman.
Scope and Content
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Eisig and Hana (née Weissman) Hendel and their children David and Rut (later Tamar) of Zagreb, Yugoslavia (present day Zagreb, Croatia). Included are identification papers, immigration documents, financial papers, and photographs that document their escape from Zagreb to Rovigo and Rome, Italy, and their experiences as refugees at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York. There are also pre-war photographs of the Hendel and Weissman families in Zagreb.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series: Series 1: Biographical papers, 1931-1956; Series 2: Photographs, circa 1920-1956
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Ms. Tamar Hendel-Fishman
People
- Hendel, Eisig, 1903-1992.
- Hendell, David.
- Hendel, Tamar.
- Hendel family
- Hendel, Hana, 1908-1998.
Corporate Bodies
- Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter (U.S.)
Subjects
- Oswego (N.Y.)
- Jewish families--Croatia--Zagreb.
- Emigration & immigration--United States--1940-1950.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--New York--Personal narratives.
- New York (N.Y.)
- Zagreb (Croatia)
- Rovigo (Italy)
- Rome (Italy)
- Israel.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Italy.
Genre
- Document
- Photographs.