Finding Aid (English)
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http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection RG-10.156 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives Finding Aid RG-10 Small Collections Re-processed in Aug. 22, 2012 RG-10.156 1998.A.0079 Title: Edith Hahn Collection, 1915-1997 (bulk 1941-1942) Extent: 1 boxes (20 folders; 465 documents); 25 microfiche. Provenance: Edith Hahn-Beer wrote the majority of the letters and postcards to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld kept the letters and postcards until Edith and her husband, Fred Beer, retrieved them in the late 1950s. Over the years, she added correspondence from her mother, Klothilde Hahn, and others during World War II and several identification documents and photographs. She added other materials relating to post-war experiences and her book, "Ich Will Leben!", in the 1990s. Dalk Feith, former United States Holocaust Memorial Council member, and Drew Lewis, former United States Transportation Secretary, purchased Hahn's collection during a Sotheby's auction on Dec. 5, 1997 and donated it to the USHMM in 1998. Biographic/Historical Note: Edith Hahn-Beer (b. Edith Hahn, January 24, 1914, Vienna, Austria) is a survivor of Nazi labor camps in Germany during from 1941 to 1942. Until the Anschluß in 1938, she was a student of law at the University of Vienna. She was forced to discontinue her studies and, in 1939, was forced to move into the Jewish ghetto in Vienna along with their mother, Klothilde Hahn. In April 1941 Edith was forced into a labor camp at a farm in Osterburg, Germany, where she performed agricultural labor. In October 1941, she and other women from the farm camp were taken to a paper carton factory in Aschersleben, Germany, near Leipzig. During her time in these camps, she managed to maintain a steady correspondence with a former law school friend, Joseph "Pepi" Rosenfeld of Vienna. There are some 290 pieces of correspondence in the collection between Edith and Pepi that chronicle her experiences in the camps and his support and encouragement for her. In 1942, the Nazis ordered Edith to report for relocation, but she decided to escape deportation by going underground. She sought the aid of a non-Jewish friend, Christine Margarethe Denner. Denner applied for and received duplicate identification papers for herself for Edith to use while posing as a Christian. Living under her new identity, Edith settled in Munich, Germany, where she worked as a seamstress and nurse. In August 1942 Edith met and fell in love with Werner Vetter, a Nazi. After his divorce from his first wife, Vetter and Edith married in 1943. Their daughter, Angelika Maria (Angela), was born on April 9, 1944. As World War II turned against Germany, Vetter was drafted and soon captured by the Russians and taken to Siberia as a prisoner of war. Edith fled with her infant daughter to the German countryside. After the war, Edith and Werner divorce and he returned to RG-10.156 1 Edith Hahn collection … http://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection RG-10.156 his first wife. Edith became a judge in the Russian Zone of Germany, but eventually fled to England when the Russians pressured her to spy on colleagues. In 1957, Edith married fellow Viennese refugee, Fred Beer. They lived near London until Beer's death in 1984. Before Fred died, he and Edith visited Pepi and retrieved the letters and postcards that she wrote to him while in the labor camps. Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld died in the early 1960s. Edith Hahn moved to Israel in 1984 after the death of her husband. Organization and Arrangement: Organized into the following series: Series 1: RG-10.156.01, General correspondence, 1933-1997; Series 2: RG-10.156.02, Klothilde Hahn correspondence, 1942; Series 3: RG-10.156.03, Brandenburg correspondence,1942-1946; Series 4: RG- 10.156.04, Photographs, 1915 Apr.-1947 Mar.; Series 5: RG-10.156.05, Identification cards and passports, 1933-1954; Series 6: RG-10.156.06, Edith Hahn payroll statements, 1941-1942; Series 7: RG-10.156.07, Cardboard cartons from Aschersleben labor camp, 1942; Series 8: RG- 10.156.08, Miscellaneous documents,1938-1992; and Series 9: RG-10.156.09, Clippings, letters, and certificates, etc., 1984-1996. Arrangement of documents within the series is chronological. Restrictions on access: No restrictions on access. Restrictions on use: Restrictions apply. See Dalk Feith and Drew Lewis donor file for details. Language: German with some English. Preferred Citation: Standard citation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collections Division, Archives Branch. Scope and Content: Contains correspondence exchanged between Edith Hahn and her fiancé, Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld, and between Edith and her mother, Klothilde Hahn, during Edith’s time in German labor camps in Osterburg and Aschersleben. Also included are photographs of the Hahn family, Joseph Rosenfeld, and Werner Vetter; identification cards and passports for Edith Hahn; cardboard cartons made by Hahn while in Aschersleben labor camp near Leipzig, Germany; payroll statements; clippings, letters, and certificates relating to the publication of Hahn’s book, Ich will leben!; and various other documents relating primarily to Hahn’s experiences from 1938 to 1944. Note: The collection was re-processed and re-cataloged in 2012. This finding aid reflects changes to numbering of folders. RG-10.156 2 Edith Hahn collection … http://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection RG-10.156 Inventory: Series 1: RG-10.156.01 General correspondence, [1933? Aug. 12]-1997 Aug. 24 (bulk 1941-1942) Folder 1-10 [ten folders] Summary: The series contains letters and postcards exchanged primarily between Edith Hahn and Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld during Edith Hahn's time in German labor camps in Osterburg and Aschersleben, both in Germany from May 1941 to June 1942. Among other correspondents in the series are Klothilde and Leopold Hahn, Edith Hahn's parents, and her sisters, Maria (Mimi) Hahn and Johanna (Hansi) Hahn, and Werner Vetter, Edith Hahn's first husband. The correspondence dates from ca. 1933 to August 1997. The bulk of the correspondence dates from May 1941 to June 1942, during Edith Hahn's time in the labor camps. Folder 1 of 20 Leopold Hahn postcard to Edith Hahn, Maria Hahn, and Johanna Hahn, [1933? Aug. 12]. 1 postcard. Leopold Hahn writes to his daughters Edith, Maria (Mimi), and Johanna (Hansi). The postcard is signed "Papa." Inventory #: RG-10.156.0325 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1938 Aug. 4. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld in German shorthand. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0190 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 3. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld telling him about food ration coupons she has received, and her train trip to "St. Valentin." Inventory #: RG-10.156.0090 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph Rosenfeld from a waiting room in the Leipzig railroad station. She indicates that she is not allowed to go outside. The train will take them (a group of twenty) to Stendahl where their future employers are waiting for them. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0184 Postcard to Lotte, 1941 May 6. 1 postcard. Printed Russian postcard addressed to Lotte from unidentified sender. RG-10.156 3 Edith Hahn collection … http://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection RG-10.156 Inventory #: RG-10.156.0368 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 8. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph Rosenfeld about her arrival in Stendahl. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0233 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 8. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld in order to give him her new address in Osterburg. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0234 Edith Hahn letter to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 9. 1 letter (2 p.) Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld describing her arrival at a farm and provides a drawing of the layout of the farm camp. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0095 Edith Hahn letter to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 9. 1 letter (2 p.) Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld about her factory work, hunger, and her mother. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0185 Edith Hahn letter to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 13. 1 letter (2 p.) Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld describing her feelings of isolation due to the fact that she is not allowed to leave the camp. She also describes her living quarters in the camp. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0092 Edith Hahn letter to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 15. 1 letter (2 p.) Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld describing damage from bombs. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0091 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 16. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld in German shorthand. Inventory #: RG-10.156.0324 Edith Hahn postcard to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 16. 1 postcard. Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld to thank him for his letter and tells him that she has little time and will write more at a later time. RG-10.156 4 Edith Hahn collection … http://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection RG-10.156 Inventory #: RG-10.156.0323 Edith Hahn letter to Joseph Rosenfeld, 1941 May 18. 1 letter (6 p.) Edith Hahn writes to Joseph (Pepi) Rosenfeld describing her hard work and difficulties with the farm's owner and manager, and other workers on the farm.