Münzer family papers

Simche Münzer (Simcha / Siegfried Minzer, 1904-1945) was born on September 6, 1904, in Kanczuga, Poland to Moses Aron Münzer and Esther Malka Münzer (née Einhorn). Gisele (Gitel, 1905-2001) was born on May 20, 1905, in Rymanów, Poland. The couple, distantly related cousins, met when they were teenagers. In the late 1920’s, Simche moved to The Hague, where his brother Emil lived and opened a tailoring business. Gisele moved to Berlin, Germany to be with her brother and sister. She worked in her sibling’s tailoring business. Gisele moved to The Hague in December 1932. Giesele and Simche wed on December 16, 1932. Their daughter Eva was born on July 10, 1936, and their second, Leana (Liane) was born on November 12, 1938. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. In August 1941, following the advice of their Catholic neighbors Jo and Ko Van Luhrmann, the Münzers registered their daughters at a Catholic school. In 1941, Gisele became pregnant and her obstetrician advised that she have an abortion. She refused and as a result the doctor refused to treat Gisele. Alfred Münzer was born in November 1941. Despite it being an indication of Jewish faith, the Münzers had their son circumcised. On May 21, 1942, Simche was ordered to report to a German labor camp but evaded the order by checking into a hospital for a hernia operation. By September 1942, it was apparent the entire family needed to go into hiding. Simche faked a suicide attempt in order to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. Gisele sold the family’s possessions and secured hiding places for their children. She then joined Simche at the Remarrkliniek hospital where she worked as a nurse’s assistant. On December 26, 1942, the clinic was raided by the Germans. The patients and staff, including Gisele and Simche Münzer were arrested and sent to the Spinoza house which the Germans used as a detention center in The Hague. In January 1943 they were sent to Westerbork. On February 20, 1943, they were was transferred to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (also known as Vught concentration camp) where they worked as forced laborers in the Philips factory. On June 3, 1944, they were transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they were separated. Simche stayed in Auschwitz until it was evacuated in January 1945. He was then sent to several concentration camps including Mauthausen, Gusen, Steyr, and Ebensee. He was liberated from the Ebensee concentration camp in May 1945. However, he died of tuberculosis at a convent in Ebensee on July 25, 1945. Gisele was sent to Reichenbach, a sub-camp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, where she made radio tubes at the Telefunken factory. After the factory was bombed on June 6, 1944, Gisele was sent on a forced march through Zittau, Adelsheim, and Binau, Germany. In December 1944, she arrived at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In spring 1945, she was sent to Hanover, Stendal, Lübeck, Hamburg, Germany and Ravensbrück concentration camp. She was liberated when the train passed into the International Red Cross Zone at the Danish border on April 1, 1945. She was sent to Sweden in May, where she recuperated with the Zohnem family. In August, Gisele returned to the Netherlands to find her family where she was reunited with Alfred. Alfred Münzer had been placed in the care of a friend named Annie Madna, who set him to live with her sister. After a month, her sister became too nervous to keep Alfred. Annie then placed Alfred in the care of her ex-husband Tolé Madna (1896-1992), a native of Indonesia, and Mima Saina, the family’s housekeeper. They referred to Alfred as Bobby and claimed he was Annie’s illegitimate son. Alfred was cared for alongside Tolé and Annie’s other children: Willie, Dewie, and Robby Madna. When Gisele returned in August 1945, Alfred no longer remembered his mother. To ease the transition, Gisele moved in with the Madna family. In October 1945, Alfred’s foster mother, Mima Saina died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. Afterwards, Gisele and Alfred moved into an apartment. Gisele worked as a seamstress and electrician while Alfred attended both public school and Hebrew school. In 1947, Gisele bought a cosmetics store in The Hague. In 1952, she and Alfred moved to Brussels. In 1956, Alfred was sent to Yeshiva in Aix-les-Bains, France. In 1958, Alfred and Gisele went to Austria to visit Simche’s grave before immigrating to the United States. They arrived in New York on July 25, 1958. Their immigration was sponsored by Max and Hela Van Der Pool. Hela was Gisele’s best friend and they had been together in many concentration camps. Alfred attended Brooklyn College and medical school at the State University of New York and Johns Hopkins, where he trained as a pulmonary specialist. He worked at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, DC, and settled in DC with his partner, Joel Wind. After leaving the military, continuing his career as a pulmonologist. He has remained close to the Madna family. Alfred has been honored for his volunteer work with the American Lung Association. He also volunteers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has shared his experiences with many community and school groups. Gisele died in Bethesda, Maryland on May 24, 2001. Alfred’s sisters, Eva and Liane Münzer did not survive the war. In 1942, the sisters had been placed with the Jensen family, a Catholic family in The Hague, Netherlands. In early 1944, the Jensens fought and Mr. Jensen reported his wife and the Münzer girls to the German authorities. All three were arrested. Mrs. Jensen was sent to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp. Her fate is unknown. On February 5, 1944, Eva (age 8) and Liane (age 5) were sent to the Westerbork transit camp. On February 8, 1944 they were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they perished on February 11, 1944. Several other members of the Münzer extended family did not survive the war. Emil Münzer, Simche’s brother, was discovered hiding in Rijnsburg, Netherlands and was deported to an unnamed camp. Gisele’s sister and her son Jossi were also deported to unnamed camps. Gisele’s brother Abraham, his wife, and their son Norbert fled Germany to Bolivia after Kristallnacht in November 1938. Details of their fate remain unknown.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alfred Munzer

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alfred Munzer and Joel Wind

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alfred Munzer

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alfred Munzer

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Alfred Munzer

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

The Münzer family papers contains four accessions donated by Alfred Münzer in 2005, 2008, 2016, and 2017, and Alfred Münzer and Joel Wind in 2011. The catalog record number 2005.291.2 consists of five accession numbers: 2005.291.1, 2009.45, 2011.386.1, 2016.452.1, 2017.475.1.