Efrem Ostrowsky family papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize box
oversize folder
1
1
1
Creator(s)
- Samuel Ostrowsky
- Efrem M. Ostrowsky
Biographical History
Efrem Ostrowsky (1919-2009) was the son of artist Samuel and Anna (née Israelson) Ostrowsky. He was a trained artist in sculpture. During World War II, he was a specialist in deactivating landmines with the 103rd Infantry Division. His unit helped in the liberation of France, and was among the first U.S. troops to enter the Dachau concentration camp. After the war he continued his studies in art in France at the Ecole Nationale de Beaux Arts and the Sorbone. Efrem later worked in industrial design. He married Thelma Horner and had three daughters: Lenore, Saula, and Julie.
Samuel Ostrowsky (1885-1946), was born near Kiev and studied art from an early age. He immigrated to the United States in 1903 and settled in Chicago. He married Anna Israelson in 1912, and continued to take frequent trips to Paris to study and exhibit. He also began to design theatre sets. He had a studio in Paris and was there when World War II began. Samuel had difficulties leaving France, but was eventually able to secure passage back to the United States due to assistance from his friend Leon Blum (who was later arrested and survived internment in Dachau).
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Efrem Ostrowsky
The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Efrem Ostrowsky in 1994. His daughter Julie Ostrowsky donated an accretion in 2017. The collection is a unification of the prior donations, and consists of the accessions 1995.A.0306 and KE559401 under the new catalog number 1995.A.0306.2.
Scope and Content
The collection primarily consists of wartime photographs taken by Efrem Ostrowsky and others as well as liberation photographs taken at the Dachau concentration camp by Ostrowsky. The photographs depict Allied troops in Austria, France, and Germany, captured German soldiers, liberated concentration camp survivors, cannons, tanks, and aircraft. The captured German soldiers include Major Wilhelm Oxenius, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, and Colonel-General Alfred Jodl. Documents primarily relate to Efrem’s father Samuel Ostrowsky’s art career, including clippings, a program from a Spertus Museum exhibition on his work, publications, photocopies of correspondence, and a list of Jewish artists. Also included are two broken glass negatives.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series: Series 1. Documents and publications, 1938-1946 Series 2. Photographs, circa 1944-1945 Negatives in this collection have been removed for conservation reasons.
People
- Ostrowsky, Efrem, 1919-2009.
- Ostrowsky, Samuel, 1885-1946.
Corporate Bodies
- Germany. Wehrmacht
- United States. Army. Infantry Division, 103rd
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Military life--American--Europe.
- Dachau (Germany)
- France.
- Austria.
- Jewish artists.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
Genre
- Document
- Photographs.