Erwin Marx papers
Extent and Medium
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Creator(s)
- Erwin Marx
Biographical History
Erwin Marx was born in 1895 in Freiburg, Germany, to Julius Marx (1865-1925) and Anna Schoenthal Marx (1870-1941). Erwin waa textile merchant. He was arrested during Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, and interned in Dachau concentration camp until December. His business and all his assets was confiscated by the Nazi regime that month. In 1939, he fled to Shanghai, China, where he lived as a political refugee until 1946. Erwin emigrated to the United States in 1947 and resided in San Francisco, California, until his death in 1988.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
Ruth Kraemer, Erwin Marx's cousin, donated the Erwin Marx papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Scope and Content
The Erwin Marx papers consist of biographical materials, printed materials, and restitutions papers documenting merchant Erwin Marx from Freiburg, Germany, his refuge in Shanghai, and his efforts to obtain restitution after the Holocaust. Biographical materials include Erwin Marx’s German passport and identification card and certificates documenting Marx’s identification, good conduct, and vaccines as a refugee in Shanghai. This series also includes a handful of notes or diary entries documenting anecdotes about Marx’s life in San Francisco. Printed materials consist of photocopies of Aufbau and Der Wiedergutmachung articles about procedures, processes, and policies regarding restitution claims. Restitution files consist of correspondence, reports, forms, bank statements, and tax records documenting Erwin Marx’s pursuit of restitution claims against Germany for his incarceration in Dachau, the loss of his business, his confinement to the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, illnesses, and emigration costs.
System of Arrangement
The Erwin Marx papers are arranged as three series: I. Biographical materials, 1937-1962, II. Printed materials, 1956-1959, III. Restitution, 1951-1970
People
- Erwin Marx
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Jewish merchants--Germany--Freiburg.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--China--Shanghai.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Reparations.
- Shanghai (China)
- Jews--Persecutions--Germany.
- Aryanization--Germany.
- Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai.
Genre
- Diaries.
- Document