Klaus Langer papers
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Yakob Langer
Biographical History
Klaus (later Yakob or Jacob) Langer was born on April 12, 1924 to Erich and Rose in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia (currently Poland). After several moves, Klaus, his parents, and his grandmother Mina settled in Essen, Germany, in 1936. Klaus was a member of a Zionist youth group and, at times, his membership was a source of conflict with his parents who felt socially and culturally German. During Kristallnacht, Erich was arrested and the family decided it was time to leave Germany. Klaus and his family desperately attempted to emigrate from Germany, but with each attempt they were met with internal and external obstacles. Through the Aid to Jewish Youth (Jüdische Jugendhilfe), Klaus was able to escape Germany on September 2, 1939 for Denmark. In 1942 he settled in Palestine and changed his name from Klaus to Jacob. His mother died from an infection in September 1941 and his father was deported to the Izbica Lubelska camp in April 1942 and likely sent to either Bełżec or Sobibór. His grandmother was sent to Theresienstadt in July 1842 and was later deported to Minsk where she perished.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Yakob Langer
Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
Yakob Langer donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994.
Scope and Content
The Klaus Langer papers include color copies of pages of Klaus (later Yakob or Jacob) Langer's diary as well as a typed transcript of a letter written by Klaus's father, Erich, to his son between November 1941 and April 1942. Klaus, while living in Essen, Germany, began his diary shortly after his bar mitzvah in March 1937. In his diary Klaus wrote about daily life, family, friends, and his involvement in the Zionist movement, but in 1938, the entries become more political. After Kristallnacht, the entries describe his family’s efforts to leave Germany and the challenges they faced trying to immigrate. The color copies in this collection include entries from 1938, in which Klaus begins writing about the political situation happening around him, including his reaction to Kristallnacht. In the letter sent to Klaus by his father, Erich describes the family's emigration attempts, the death of his wife, and the impending transport east. The letter was saved by neighbors and given to Klaus after the war.
System of Arrangement
The Klaus Langer papers are arranged as a single series
People
- Yakob Langer
- Langer, Klaus.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.
- Essen (Germany)
- Kristallnacht, 1938.
Genre
- Diaries.
- Document
- Correspondence.