Object ID
2012.1.511
Object Name
Letter
Date
2-28-1940
Files
Download Full Text (14.3 MB)
Content Warning
The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.
Description
A typewritten letter on thin paper. Includes several underlined lines and handwritten notes.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
One of two documents (2012.1.510 & 2012.1.511) relating to German Jewish couple: Georg and Hedwig Hirschfeld. Georg Hirschfeld was a well-known author who lived in Munich. The couple sold their house to a German named Gottschalk. After the house was sold, the Hirschfelds were unable to find a flat due to the Nazi law involving "tenancies with Jews." Mrs. Hirschfeld tried everything to get an accommodation for herself and her husband. She finally tried to get an accommodation in a summer house through a German allotment club. The first letter (2012.1.510) was a very kind response by a German to Mrs. Hirschfeld.
This second letter was written by Mrs. Hirschfeld to Gottschalk. A translation follows: Dear Mrs. Gottschalk, Dear Mr. Gottschalk, Herewith I send you the letters which I received by the allotment club. I couldn't send them earlier. Because I was pretty sick and it is even difficult for me to move or do any physical work. Unfortunately, it is totally hopeless to get one or two empty rooms. So I have to continue to search. My husband is already signed out from here, because they will keep him at the hospital. He is not able to live outside, because of his sick heart. My self I have no change to come into question with the Jewish Housing Agency, because due to the law, I do not belong to the Jewish Unit of Germany. Therefore I also don't have maternity rights. This law changed, because of the marital law. It is not allowed to get homeless and I don't want to dump my furniture. I don't understand why you avoided an open debate before the war with me and my husband. I tell you that, because you lowered the price for the house and you ruined us totally. Unfortunately, I more and more don't understand the people of my environment. Since one year now, we get chased around and all agitate against us. How to take responsibility for this in front of God--I don't know it! Hedwig Hirschfeld Hassel.
Dimensions
11 1/2 x 8 1/4"
Keywords
Georg Hirschfeld, Hedwig Gottschalk Hirschfeld, Munich, Tenacies, Jews, Ghetto, Litzmannstadt
Subcollection
Early, Personal
Recommended Citation
"Georg and Hedwig Hirschfeld Letter" (1940). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2012.1.511.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1226
Rights Statement
