Jews who held any lingering hope that Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria (Anschluss) would mean that the worst manifestations of Nazism would ameliorate, that the relentless persecution and violence against Jews would abate, were in for overwhelming disillusionment as despair and panic ensued with the Kristallnacht pogrom - the “Night of Broken Glass “of November 9-10, 1938. Synagogues in Germany and Austria were targeted by arson; property and shops owned by Jews were looted and destroyed, physical violence against Jews was rampant: adults, children and infants were targeted. As many as 400 or more (some estimates range in the thousands) suicides and murders occurred. 30,000 men were deported to concentration camps.
The Jews would receive a bill for the damage that was incurred.
Approximately 150,000 Jews fled the Reich (Germany and Austria) after Kristallnacht.
The following are examples of the experience of Jewish individuals, families and groups in search of a safe harbor from the Nazi menace. For further information about help received by Jewish refugees from those who risked life and career to save Jews, see the subcollection AID AND RESCUE: RIGHTEOUS DIPLOMATS AND OTHERS.
Alexander Distleremigrated to Great Britain in 1939, fleeing Austria after Kristallnacht, soon after the first group of Kindertransport children arrived. An architect/engineer, Distler was sent to Canada out of concern that he was a possible “enemy alien” and spent the war years in several camps with other refugees. He emigrated to Great Britain after the war. His mother remained in Austria. Distler later discovered that she had been deported to Theresienstadt where she presumably perished.
See the subcollection FLIGHT AND EMIGRATION: THE ODYSSEY OF JEWISH REFUGEE ALEXANDER DISTLER FROM 1939-1955
Gerdy Katzenstein and her parents were able to emigrate to the United States just after Kristallnacht in December, 1938. Having worked in Germany, the Katzensteins would doubtless be seen as immigrants who would not be a burden on the state. Gerdy and her family petitioned for a name change to Kaston.
See 2012.1.39 and 2012.1.566
Adele Bertha Levy was a 55-year-old widow from Hanover, Germany who found refuge in Manila, Jews having been welcomed to go to the Philippines by President Manuel Quezon. Adele was one of 1300 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany who became part of an active Jewish community in the Philippines. The Filipinos themselves were welcoming and helpful to the Jews, and this would be reciprocated by the refugees. Adele was ultimately seeking to go to the United States to be with her two children. She reached San Francisco on December 30, 1941.
See: 2022.1.37 and 2022.1.38a-e
Dr. Sigmund Freud at age 82 arrived in London in June 1938, where he would live with his wife and daughter Anna, having fled his native Austria after the Anschluss, Austria’s annexation by the German Reich on March 12, 1938. Freud would not return, having died in September 1939.
See 2014.1.87 Dr. Freud Arrives in London as Refugee
Passengers on the Pentcho, an old malfunctioning Danube paddle-steamer carrying 400 refugee Slovakian and German Jews from Bratislava, Slovakia were bound for Palestine in May 1940, attempting to escape Nazi persecution under President and Priest Josef Tiso. The Pentcho picked up 100 more refugee Austrian Jews along the way and continued to Palestine. During the arduous journey the ship's boiler exploded in Italian territory causing the Pentcho to split in two. The passengers, marooned on a deserted island, were eventually spotted by a plane, and brought to the island of Rhodes - during the War under Italian control - where they lived for the next 15 months in a sports (soccer) stadium guarded by Italian soldiers but aided by members of the indigenous Rhodes Jewish community who brought them food and supplies. Transferred in January 1942 to Ferramonti internment camp in southern Italy, they lived among other "enemy aliens," until they were liberated by the British army in 1943. Most of the refugees successfully emigrated to Palestine, although a number were sent to the Fort Ontario refugee center in upstate New York.
See the subcollection THE VOYAGE OF THE PENTCHO
Helga Beck at age 10 made her journey from Vienna to Great Britain in 1939 with the Kindertransport, a rescue effort by various groups that placed children with foster families primarily in the UK.
See 2022.1.41 and the subcollection WHAT THEY CARRIED: THE KINDERTRANSPORT
Dorrit Blumenkranz was six years old in 1944 when she went from Vienna to the only camp for refugees in the United States: Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY.
See 2014.1.46 One of 982 Jewish Refugees at Fort Ontario, Dorrit Blumenkranz Samples a Hot Dog
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Correspondence from Dr. Alexander Bramson in Paris, France to Alexander Distler in London, England
2019.2.319ab
a: Envelope with two green postage stamps along right side, stamped twice with “POUR PARTS METTEZ LEN DE LARRONDISSEMENT,” addressed to “Mr. A. Distler.” b: Four-page letter dated “28. 7. 46”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Alexander Distler has returned to England post-internment and at war’s end is living in London. Distler was one of the more than 2,000 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany and Austria who, forcibly removed from Britain as possible “enemy aliens,” were placed in internment camps in Canada. While the Jews were eventually treated as refugees and not as enemies, many were not allowed to leave until 1944.
Dr. Alexander Bramson was the Polish representative to the Committee on the Progressive Development of International Law and Its Codification – the so-called “Committee of 17” – in the recently formed United Nations. This committee played a critical role in the Genocide Convention of 1948 which essentially established a legal definition of genocide.
[Related items 2019.2.310 - 2019.2.323]
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Correspondence Sent to Alexander Distler in London Announcing Wedding of June Engel to Dr. Alexander Bramson of the United Nations
2019.2.320ab
a: Envelope with red postage stamp of airplane in upper right corner, addressed to “Alexander Distler,” stamped with “NEW YORK, N.Y. DEC 17 7 PM 1946” near top. b: Card announcing “June Engle and Dr. Alexander Bramson married.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Distler received this announcement of the marriage of his friend June Engel to Dr. Alexander Bramson on December 17, 1946. Dr. Bramson was the Polish representative to the recently formed United Nations and member of the famous “Committee of 17” which played a crucial role in the Genocide Convention of 1948. This convention established for the first time a legal definition of genocide.
[Related items 2019.2.310 - 2019.2.323]
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Israel Kultusgemeinde Wien Response Concerning Fate of Mrs. Franziska Distler, Mother of Alexander Distler
2019.2.321ab
a: Green envelope with a purple ink stamp in the center with “508” and a purple purple stamp in the top right corner. b: Typed letter dated “18. Februar 1948” in the top right corner and the same purple “508” ink stamp as the envelope.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
An official reply from the Israel Kultusgemeinde Wien (Jewish Community Organization of Vienna) to an enquiry by Alexander Distler, now living in London, about his mother Mrs. Franziska Distler of Vienna, Austria. The agency reports that Mrs. Distler was deported to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia on June 28, 1942 “and to our greatest regret” does not appear to have returned. Records indicate that Mrs. Distler was born in 1864 and had been deported on Transport 29. Signed with official handstamp of organization.
[Related items: 2019.2.310 - 2019.2.323]
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Letter Sent to Dr. Alexander Distler at Netherne Hospital in Surrey, England from June Engel in Atlantic City, New Jersey
2019.2.322
Blue folding letter/envelope, black handwriting, with a blue and red striped border around the address panel. Addressed to “Mr Alexander Distler” and stamped with the date “August 8 1952”.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Distler received mail from both June Engel and Dr. Alexander Bramson who were married after the war in 1946. Bramson was the Polish representative to the United Nations “Committee 17,” which established a legal definition of genocide.
This particular letter, from June Engel, written in German, was sent to Netherne Hospital in Surrey, England, a psychiatric facility where Distler was a patient for a time after the war.
[Related items 2019.2.310 - 2019.2.323]
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Postcard to Alexander Distler in London from Flushing, New York
2019.2.323
Recto: black and white image of an ocean liner with a black hull. Verso: blue ink handwriting with “London” written and underlined in the lower right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Post-war postcard from June Engel sent from Flushing, New York to Distler in London.
[Related items 2019.2.310 - 2019.2.323]
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Dress with German Star of David
2012.1.566
A black dress with an attached yellow Star of David patch with the word 'Jude' written on it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Dress with German Star of David and “Jude,” owned by Gertrude Katzenstein (Gerdy Kaston).
[Items relating to Gertrude Katzenstein: 2012.1.38ab, 2012.1.39, 2012.1.40, 2012.1.94, 2012.1.95ab, 2012.1.566]
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Documents Related to Stateless Refugee Adele Bertha Levy
2022.1.38a-e
A: Typewritten letter from Donal R. Perry at Immigration and Naturalization Service dated August 12, 1942; B: card from SS President Coolidge; C: Card from American President Lines with blue Honolulu and San Francisco handstamps; D: envelope from American President Lines with “ROUND-WORLD SERVICE” in red text near top center; E: Alien Tax Receipt, pink, from American PResident Lines
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Throughout the 1930s and World War II, the United States government under the Roosevelt Administration and other Western Nations closed their doors to Jewish refugees fleeing Europe. Jewish flight to Shanghai is well-known, a city which did not require entry visas until 1939. Less familiar is the asylum provided by the government of the Philippines to more than 1,300 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, and the support offered by its president Manuel Quezon, who asked all Filipinos to welcome them and help with assistance. A refugee committee was established and American Jewish organizations such as the Joint Distribution Committee helped with funding. Contributions were also received from relatives of the refugees to increase the prospect of refugees being admitted. Indeed, the process of admission was selective and certain criteria had to be met in terms of desirable professions that would benefit Filipinos. The process of admission was selective. By the end of the war many surviving refugees would migrate to the U.S.
Adele Bertha Levy was a 55-year-old German Jewish woman, widowed, from Hanover who fled Nazi Germany and found refuge in the Philippines. She was a resident of Manila.
She was seeking to go to the United States to be with her children in California. Stateless and without a passport, she received in Manila an “Affidavit in Lieu of a Passport '' on October 27, 1941 by a passport agent in Manila. Her photograph is on the Affidavit along with personal characteristics. The visa (verso) - No.1150 - was issued on November 10, 1941, under a statute related to quotas on immigrants. She was able to leave Manila November 25, on the SS President Coolidge with a brief stop in Hawaii on the 17th of December - just 10 days after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. The Japanese invaded the Philippines on December 8th. She reached the US (San Francisco) on December 30, 1941.
[Related item: 2022.1.37]