Wissbrun family papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize box
1
1
Creator(s)
- Wissbrun family
Biographical History
Fritz Wissbrun of Amsterdam, the Netherlands was deported to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (Vught) in 1943. After liberation he married Edith Kahn and they immigrated to the United States in 1951. Fritz Wissbrun (later known as Fred Wissbrun, 1909-1985) was born on 16 December 1909 in Cologne, Germany to Hugo (b. 1875 in Munich, Germany) and Melanie (née Meyer, 1884-1943, born in Cologne) Wissbrun. His father was a businessman and married Melanie Meyer in Cologne in 1908. Fritz had one sister, Anita (Anita Gebhardt, 1908-1942). Prior to World War II, Fritz lived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and was likely dating Edith Kahn. Edith Jeanette Kahn (later Edith Wissbrun) was born on 5 October 1919 in Cologne to Max Julius Kahn (1879-1944) and Antonie Gundlach (1884-1966). Her father was Jewish and her mother was Catholic. Edith had one brother, Oskar Joachim Kahn (later Oskar Joachim Kane, b. 1911). Fritz was deported to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (Vught) in 1943 and assigned as a forced-laborer to the Philips-Kommando. In June 1944 the Philips-Kommando, including Fritz, were deported on 3 June 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In August 1944 he was then sent to the Langenbielau subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. Around March 1945 he was deported back and forth between the Dörnhau and Wüstegiersdorf subcamps. Fritz was finally liberated from Dörnhau by the Russian Army on 8 May 1945. Throughout his imprisonment he wrote to Edith when able. Fritz and Edith married on 31 October 1945 and had two children, Margriet Jane (later Jane Brown Voss) and Fred. The family immigrated to the United States in 1951. Fritz’s sister Anita was deported to the Westerbork concentration camp in July 1942 and then deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp where she perished in September 1942. Fritz’s mother Melanie was deported to Westerbork in 1943 and perished there the same year.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jane Brown Voss
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Jane Brown Voss, daughter of Fritz and Edith Wissbrun.
Scope and Content
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Fritz Wissbrun, his future wife Edith Kahn, and their families in Amsterdam, including Fritz’s deportation to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (Vught). Included is correspondence written by Fritz in Herzogenbusch to Edith in Amsterdam, as well as letters to Edith from Fritz’s mother, Melanie Wissbrun, who was deported to the Westerbork concentration camp; identification papers, passports, vaccination documents, restitution papers, marriage certificates, family books, poetry, and material related to Fritz’s education in Germany and the United States.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1886-1985; Series 2. Correspondence, 1908-1949 and undated
People
- Gundlach, Antonie.
- Kahn, Julius.
- Wissbrun, Edith.
- Brown Voss, Jane.
- Wissbrun, Fred.
- Gebhardt, Anita.
- Wissbrun, Melanie.
- Wissbrun, Fritz.
Corporate Bodies
- Vught (Concentration camp)
- Westerbork (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations.
- Jews--Netherlands--Amsterdam.
- Cologne (Germany)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Netherlands--Amsterdam.
- Jews--Germany--Cologne.
Genre
- Document
- Letters.
- Identification cards.
- Passports.