Waldmann family papers

The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of the Waldmann family, originally of Bad Windsheim, Germany. Included are German passports, family history, immigration documents, restitution paperwork, correspondence, and photographs regarding brothers Leopold, Max, and Sigmund, and their families including their mother Emma Esther Waldmann, and Max’s wife Charlotte and sons Kurt and Otto. Biographical materials include Charlotte Waldmann’s German passport which also included her sons Kurt and Otto; Emma Esther Waldmann’s German identification card and passport, packing inventory, receipt for travel on the SS Rex, and immigrant identification card; several documents and an essay related to the history of the Waldmann family, and restitution paperwork related to claims filed by Max and Charlotte Waldmann. Also included are copies of the ship manifests for Frieda Aal (née Waldmann) aboard the SS Ile de France in 1938, Max Waldmann aboard the SS Washington in 1938, Charlotte, Kurt, and Otto Waldmann aboard the SS Manhattan in 1939, and Emma Esther Waldmann aboard the SS Rex in 1940. Correspondence consists of letters sent from Leopold and his wife Sophie in Augsburg, Germany to their daughter Irmgard in the United States; Sigmund and his wife Hedwig in Augsburg to his niece Friedl and his mother Emma in the United States; Leopold, Sigmund, and Sophie in Augsburg to their nephew Kurt in the United States; and post-war letters from Max. The letter to Kurt is dated 4 June 1940 and congratulates him on his bar mitzvah. It was likely the last letter he received from them. Photographs primarily consist of pre-war depictions of the Waldmann family in Bad Windsheim, Germany. Included are photographs of Leopold, Sigmund, and Max in their German military uniforms during World War I, portraits of members of Max’s wife Charlotte’s family the Hausmanns, Friedl Waldmann’s wedding in 1934, and childhood photographs of Kurt and Otto. There are also loose photograph album pages and donor-provided copies of photographs with identifications. Joseph Waldmann (1829-1913) was born in Kaubenheim, Germany. He was married to Sophie Bergtheimer (née Sternschein, 1812-1860). They had no children. After Sophie’s death in 1860, he married Emma Esther Dahlheimer (born Esther Dahlheimer, 1854-1946) in 1887 in Bad Windsheim. Emma was the daughter of Maier Löb and Rifka Dahlheimer, and she had five siblings: Fanni (b. 1846), Marie Anne (b. 1848), Israel (b. 1850), Abraham (b. 1857), and Maier (b. 1860). Joseph and Emma had six children: Sigmund (b. 1882), Max (1893-1975), Leopold (b. 1884), Ludwig (b. 1886), Isidor (1889-1890), and Adolf (1891-1993). Ludwig immigrated to the United States in 1905 and settled in New York where he worked as a baker. He married May Abrams in 1917, and they had one son, Julian. Adolf immigrated to the United States in 1913. He lived in New York and married Helen Lichtenstein (d. 1991). They had one daughter, Judith. During World War II he sponsored his mother Emma, Max and his family, and Sigmund and Hedwig’s daughter Irmgard for immigration to the United States. Max was a cattle and horse trader in Bad Windsheim who married Charlotte Hausmann (1901-1989) in 1922. She was the daughter of cattle trader Isak (1875-1939) and Kela Levia Hausmann (née Vorchheimer, 1873-1935). They had two sons, Otto (b. 1926) and Kurt (b. 1927). Max immigrated to New York on 11 June 1938. During Kristallnacht, Charlotte and her sons were imprisoned for two days and a night. Upon release, they moved to Würzburg and in January 1939, they joined Max in New York. Emma Esther Waldmann immigrated to the United States in January 1940 at the age of 85. She settled in New York with the rest of her family. Sigmund married Hedwig Weissmann (b. 1882) in 1907 in Egenhausen, Germany. They had three children: Friedl (b. 1919, later Frieda Aal), Martin (1912-1986), and Irene (b. 1914). Sigmund worked as a tradesman. Sigmund and Hedwig moved from Bad Windsheim to Augsburg on 31 October 1938, one week before Kristallnacht. In March 1943, they were deported to a camp near Munich. Hedwig became ill in Munich and died there. She was buried in the Neuer Israelitischer Friedhof (New Israeli Cemetery). Sigmund was deported to Auschwitz where he perished. Irene immigrated to the United States in 1937, Friedl in 1938, and Martin in 1939. Leopold was a wine merchant in Bad Windsheim. He and his wife, Sophie (née Holzer, b. 1893), were both imprisoned following Kristallnacht. He was sent to Dachau for six weeks. After being released, Sophie moved to Augsburg on 16 November 1938 and Leopold followed on 24 December 1938. In 1939, their daughter Irmgard immigrated to New York, where she lived with her uncle Max and his family. Leopold and Sophie were deported from Munich on 3 April 1942 to the Piaski ghetto where they both likely perished.