Otto Ernst Falkenhagen papers

Identifier
irn692533
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2019.222.1
Dates
1 Jan 1991 - 31 Dec 1993
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Otto Erich Falkenhagen was born in 1922 to Otto and Ella Falkenhagen in Hamburg, Germany. Otto’s younger sister, Inge, was born in 1928. Inge had both physical and intellectual disabilities that prompted scrutiny and persecution of the Falkenhagen family under Nazi eugenics policies. In 1937 Otto Sr. died at the Hafenkrankenhaus in Hamburg, four years later Inge died at age 12 in the Alstersdorf Anstalten. In 1940 Otto Erich Falkenhagen was sentenced to serve 6 months for a transgression by a youth court in Hamburg. After serving this sentence Otto was sent by state authorities to the Moringen youth camp where he was interned for the next five years until his liberation in April 1945.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bonnie Falkenhagen Cruz

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019 by Bonnie Falkenhagen Cruz.

Scope and Content

Consists of four letters written by Otto Falkenhagen in the 1990s reflecting on his life and that of his family under National Socialism in Hamburg, Germany. The letters address his internment between the years 1940 and 1945 at the Moringen Youth Camp, the persecution of his father and disabled sister under Nazi eugenics policies, and the death of his sister who died at age 12 in the Alstersdorf Anstalten in 1941. Also includes 3 copy prints of photographs depicting Falkhagen family members circa 1920—1931.

System of Arrangement

Arranged as a single series.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Ms. Bonnie Cruz

Subjects

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.