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JOHN VAN ELLIS PAPERS, 1942-1949 2017.432.1

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington, DC 20024-2126 Tel. (202) 479-9717 e-mail: [email protected]

Descriptive summary

Title: John Van Ellis papers

Dates: 1942-1949

Accession number: 2017.432.1

Creator: Van Ellis, John B., 1917-2000.

Extent: 5.25 linear feet (1 box, 2 oversize boxes, 1 book enclosure, 3 oversize folders)

Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126

Abstract: The collection documents the military career of John Van Ellis in the Signal Corps of the United States Army, including his photographs and his work with establishing V-mail stations in London and Paris. Included are records related to the Signal Corps, V-mail program reports, correspondence with his wife Helen Van Ellis (née Harris), photographs, and a scrapbook. Also included are copies of arrest records of high ranking Nazi officials prepared in Camp Ashcan (Central Continental Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 32) prior to their transfer to for prosecution by Allied authorities. The arrest records are of Karl Dönitz, Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel, , , and Franz Papen.

Languages: English, French

Administrative Information

Access: Collection is open for use, but is stored offsite. Please contact the Reference Desk more than seven days prior to visit in order to request access.

Reproduction and use: Collection is available for use. Material may be protected by copyright. Please contact reference staff for further information.

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Preferred citation: (Identification of item), John Van Ellis papers (2017.432.1), United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC

Acquisition information: The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Peter H. Van Ellis and the Van Ellis Family in 2017.

Related materials: The John Van Ellis collection (IRN# 563282) contains three canisters of undeveloped film, a shell fragment, and unit patches.

Accruals: Accruals may have been received since this collection was first processed, see archives catalog at collections.ushmm.org for further information.

Processing history: Adam Fielding, November 2017

Biographical note John Bailey Van Ellis (born John Bailey Vanellis, 1917-2000) was born 16 February 1917 in Trenton, New Jersey to George (1877-1973) and Martha (1888-1946) Vanellis. He graduated from the Price School of Advertising and Journalism and the Trenton School of Industrial Arts. Prior to the war, he operated an advertising and photography business and then worked at the Health Education Service Unit in the New Jersey State Department of Health. He joined the United States Army in 1942, serving in the Signal Corps. While in the United States, he taught photography and wrote a photography textbook for the unit. When he went overseas, he designed and installed V-mail laboratories in London and Paris. He was discharged from the Army in 1946 at the rank of Captain, and resumed his career at the New Jersey State Department of Health. He was married to Helen Harris (1915-1990).

Scope and content of collection The collection documents the military career of John Van Ellis in the Signal Corps of the United States Army, including his photographs and his work with establishing V-mail stations in London and Paris. Included are records related to the Signal Corps, V-mail program reports, correspondence with his wife Helen Van Ellis (née Harris), photographs, and a scrapbook. Also included are copies of arrest records of high ranking Nazi officials prepared in Camp Ashcan (Central Continental Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 32) prior to their transfer to Nuremberg for prosecution by Allied authorities. The arrest records are of Karl Dönitz, Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel, Albert Kesselring, Alfred Jodl, and Franz Papen.

System of arrangement The collection is arranged as three series: Series 1: United States Army records, 1942-1947 Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-1949 Series 3: Photographs, 1942-1946

Folders are arranged alphabetically and documents chronologically.

Indexing terms Person: Van Ellis, John B., 1917-2000.

Corporate: United States. Army. Signal Corps.

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Topical Subject: V-mail World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States. World War, 1939-1945--Photography.

Geography: London (England) Paris (France)

Genre/Form: Photographs. Photograph albums. Scrapbooks. Correspondence.

CONTAINER LIST

Series 1: United States Army records, 1942-1947 Box/Folder Title 1.1 Address book, circa 1943 BE 1 Book: Eparvier, Jean, A Paris, sous la botte des nazis, 1944 (In Paris under the boot of the 1.2 Nazis) with English translation (2 folders) 1.3 Certificates, 1945-1947 1.4 Identification cards, 1942-1947 1.5 Nazi arrest records, 1945 (copies) 1.6 Signal Corps documents, 1944-1947 2.1 Scrapbook, 1942-1946 (2 folders) OS 2 1.7 Scrapbook, loose photographs 1.8 V-Mail reports, circa 1945

Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-1949 Box/Folder Title 1.9 Van Ellis, Helen, 1944 (received) 1.10 Van Ellis, Helen, 1945 (received) 1.11 Van Ellis, Helen, 1942-1946 (sent) 1.12 1942-1949

Series 3: Photographs, 1942-1946 Box/Folder Title 3.1 Photograph album, circa 1942-1946 (2 folders) OS 3 1.13 Photograph album, loose photographs OS 1 Signal Corps (?), circa 1942 1.14 Training exercises, United States, 1942 1.15 Van Ellis, John, 1942-circa 1945

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1.16 V-Mail station, London, 1944 1.17 V-Mail station, Paris, 1945

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