Adler and Cohn families papers
Extent and Medium
box
oversize boxes
book enclosures
oversize folders
1
2
2
2
Creator(s)
- Adler family
- Cohn family
Biographical History
Ernst Cohn (later Ernest Cornell, 1907-1986) was born on 24 December 1907 in Münster, Germany to Carl (d. 1959) and Johanna Cohn. He had several brothers. Prior to World War II, Ernst worked with his father in the grain business. Ernst married Frieda Adler in 1935 and they lived in Münster. In 1938, Frieda and Ernst went to Amsterdam where Ernst worked in the novelty business. In 1940, Ernst met Jan Spreij (1909-1999), who was in the Dutch underground, and told Ernst that when antisemitism gets worse for the Jews, he and Frieda should go to Ede. In 1942, they contacted Jan and he arranged for them to be hidden in three different homes over the next 3.5 years. For 28 months, they stayed with the Verduya family in Otterloscheweg, Ede. After the Verduya’s took in additional people that appeared untrustworthy, they stayed with Jan’s parents, Antje and Adrianus Sprey, until their house was bombed. They then hid with the Schekker family until liberation. After the war, Frieda and Ernst’s son Alan (later Alan Cornell) was born in 1946 in Amsterdam. They immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Rotterdam in May 1947 and settled in Forest Hills, New York. In 1963 Ernst co-founded Loew-Cornell, a company that manufactured artists’ supplies. Alan would later work with his father. Ernst’s relatives also hid in the Netherlands and survived the Holocaust.
Frieda Adler (later Frieda Cohn and then Frida Cornell, 1908-2002) was born on 28 January 1908 in Bad Mergentheim, Germany to Aron (1873-1942) and Louise (b. 1882). She had one sister, Erna (d. 1977). Aron worked in politics prior to the Holocaust. Frieda married Ernst Cohn in 1935 and they lived in Münster. In 1938, Frieda and Ernst went to Amsterdam where Ernst worked in the novelty business. In 1940, Ernst met Jan Spreij (1909-1999), who was in the Dutch underground, and told Ernst that when antisemitism gets worse for the Jews, he and Frieda should go to Ede. In 1942, they contacted Jan and he arranged for them to be hidden in three different homes over the next 3.5 years. For 28 months, they stayed with the Verduya family in Otterloscheweg, Ede. After the Verduya’s took in additional people that appeared untrustworthy, they stayed with Jan’s parents, Antje and Adrianus Sprey, until their house was bombed. They then hid with the Schekker family until liberation. After the war, Frieda and Ernst’s son Alan (later Alan Cornell) was born in 1946 in Amsterdam. They immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Rotterdam in May 1947 and settled in Forest Hills, New York. In 1963 Ernst co-founded Loew-Cornell, a company that manufactured artists’ supplies. Alan would later work with his father. Frieda’s parents Aron and Louise Adler immigrated to the United States in 1938 along with her sister Erna and her husband Julius Hertz.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alan Cornell
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Alan Cornell.
Scope and Content
Documents, correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks related to the pre-war, wartime, and post-war experiences of Ernst and Frieda Cohn, who left Münster, Germany for Amsterdam in 1938, and were hidden in the Netherlands from 1942-1945. Includes correspondence regarding Ernst and Frieda’s efforts to have Jan Spreij honored as a “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem. The biographical material consists of German passports and immigration documents of Aron and Louise Adler, identification papers of Ernst and Frieda Cohn, a baby announcement and poem regarding Alan Cohn’s birth, handwritten cookbooks belonging to Frieda and Lina Kaufmann, poems and booklet for Ernst and Frieda’s wedding, memorial book for Ida Kaufmann, birth certificate for Simon Kaufmann, brochure and commemorative materials related to Bad Mergentheim including a letter by Alan regarding the Stolpersteine petition, and correspondence regarding Ernst and Frieda’s efforts to have Jan Spreij honored as a “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem. The photograph albums and scrapbooks include a pre-war photograph album of Frieda’s, a scrapbook with wartime documents of Ernst and Frieda’s from the Netherlands, and a postcard scrapbook with pre-war postcards displayed for their artwork.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1914-2018; Series 2. Photograph albums and scrapbooks, circa 1910-1986
People
- Cohn, Ernst.
- Adler, Louise.
- Adler family
- Adler, Aron.
- Cohn family
- Cohn, Frieda.
Corporate Bodies
- Yad Vashem (Jerusalem)
- Commission for the Designation of the Righteous among the Nations
Subjects
- Memorial rites & ceremonies.
- Bad Mergentheim (Germany)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Righteous Gentiles
- Münster (Germany)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Netherlands.
- Hidden family.
Genre
- Scrapbooks.
- Letters.
- Document
- Photo albums.
- Postcards.
- Photograph.