Nechama Shneorson papers

Nechama Shneorson was born Nechama Santocki in 1929 in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania to butcher shop owner Jacob Santocki and his wife Ethel. She had three sisters: Zlata, Ida, and Genya. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union they were sent to the Seventh Fort and then to the Kovno ghetto in August 1941. Ida was killed in a fire during the liquidation of the ghetto in July 1944. The rest of the family was deported to Stutthof, but Nechama’s father was removed from the train en route, and she never saw him again. At Stutthof, Nechama and Zlata were selected for labor, but their mother and Genya were sent to Auschwitz and killed. Nechama was moved to the Stutthof sub camp at Thorn. In January 1945 she was taken on a death march, abandoned in a forest, and liberated by the Soviet troops. She and Zlata were reunited in Łódź and then taken to the Landsberg am Lech displaced persons camp. Nechama moved to Israel in 1948, married Gabriel Shneorson in 1950, and immigrated to the United States in 1964. The Nechama Shneorson papers consist of certificates and identification cards, theatrical and choral programs, and photographs documenting a Lithuanian Holocaust survivor’s life at the Landsberg displaced persons camp after the war. Certificates and identification cards include a document from the American Joint Distribution Committee certifying that Nechama Shneorson had been held at the Stutthof concentration camp, her identification card from the Former Political Prisoners Committee at Landsberg, and her Jewish Agency for Palestine certificate of registration. The clipping and programs document performances by the Yiddish theatrical troupe and chorus at Landsberg, known as “Hazomir.” Photographs also document "Hazomir" theatrical and choral performances, as well as Nechama Shneorson and her friends, Purim celebrations, and sporting events at Landsberg.