Ruth Olesker Geary papers
Extent and Medium
folders
oversize folder
6
1
Creator(s)
- Ruth O. Geary
Biographical History
Ruth Olesker Geary (1917-2017) was born January 13, 1917 in Vienna, Austria to Osias Gerson Olesker (b. 1880) from Brody, Poland and Seril Segal Olesker (b. 1886) from Podwołoczyska, Poland (now Pidvolochysk, Ukraine). Ruth had an older sister named Martha (later Hoffmann, b. 1908) and an older brother named William (b. 1913). Ruth and Martha secured American visas through the sponsorship of their cousin, Dr. Henry Turkel, and arrived in New York via Cherbourg in June 1939 aboard the Queen Mary. Their brother and his wife Rosa had immigrated to the United States in November 1938. Osias and Seril Olesker were deported from Vienna to Opole in February 1941 and did not survive the Holocaust.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Joan Geary
Joan Geary donated the Ruth Olesker Geary papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019. Joan Geary is the daughter of Ruth Olesker Geary.
Scope and Content
The Ruth Olesker Geary papers include photographs, family research, identification papers, correspondence, immigration records, remittances, and tracing records documenting the Olesker family of Vienna, Austria. Photographs depict the Oldesker family. Family research includes family stories, copies of records from various archives, and printed material describing Ruth Olesker Geary. Identification papers include birth and employment certificates and travel papers. Correspondence consists of letters from Osias and Seril Olesker in Vienna to their daughters Ruth and Martha in America and one postcard to their son William in Vienna. Immigration records document Henry Turkel’s sponsorship of his cousins Ruth and Martha. Remittances document financial support the children sent to their parents in Opole, Poland. Tracing records document the children’s efforts to discover what happened to their parents after deportation to Opole.
System of Arrangement
The Ruth Olesker Geary.papers are arranged in five files: 1) Photographs and family research, 1941, 1994-2017, 2) Identification papers, 1919-1939, 1962, 3) Correspondence, 1934-1941, 4) Immigration sponsorship, 1939-1940, 1988, 5) Requisitions and tracing, 1941, 1946, 1953, 1972
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Ms. Joan Geary
People
- Ruth O. Geary
Subjects
- Holocaust victims.
- Vienna (Austria)
- United States--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
- Jewish families--Austria--Vienna.
Genre
- Photographs.
- Document
- Correspondence.