Ruth Olesker Geary papers

Identifier
irn710809
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2019.608.1
Dates
1 Jan 1917 - 31 Dec 2017
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

oversize folder

6

1

Creator(s)

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

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.