Tauber Holocaust Library
Guide to Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers
1988.1045
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Tauber Holocaust Library
- Creator
- Feuereisen, Walter, Dr.
- Title
- Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers
- ID
- 1988.1045
- Date
- 1940-1943, 1962
- Extent
- 1.0 Folder(s)
- Language
- German
- Language of Materials note
- Materials are in German. English translations of some items are available.
- Mixed materials [Box]
- Archives Box 01
- Abstract
- The collection is comprised of certificates, postcards, and copies of letters belonging to Dr. Walter Feuereisen Chief Medical Officer of the Jewish Kultusgemeinde in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Document dates range from 1940-1943. Also included are mimeographed notices dated 1962, confirming dates and times of deporation of Dr. Feueureisen and his wife Marianne, and another family, the Altensteins. The collection documents the experiences of Dr. Feuereisen, his family and friends during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, their deportation and ultimate fate.
Preferred Citation note
1988.1045 – Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers, Tauber Holocaust Library – JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California
Biographical/Historical note
Dr. Walter Feuereisen was born on May 11, 1902 and died in Auschwitz sometime after his transport there on October 23, 1944. During the years of the Holocaust, Dr. Feuereisen was a physician living in Prague, Czechoslovakia and involved in the Judische Kultugemeinde. His wife Marianne was also a physician.
Dr. Feuereisen’s mother and other family lived in Brno. These family members were deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin) on March 23, 1942. Drs. Feuereisen were considered vital to the community and lived in Prague until their deportation to Theresienstadt on July 8, 1943. All family members were deported to Auschwitz in late October 1944, where they perished.
Scope and Contents note
The collection documents the experiences of Dr. Walter Feueresein, a Jewish physician living in Prague, Czechoslovakia during the years of the Holocaust. It comprises postcards, certificates, and letters written during 1941-1943.
The bulk of the collection lies in three long, descriptive letters written by Dr. Feuereisen to his brother, Erwin Fenner, in which he details the conditions under which Jews lived in occupied Prague. These heartfelt letters describe the hardships endured, and the fear of deportation and uncertainty under which Jews struggled. He describes raids in which his father was captured, ongoing transports on which family and close friends are sent to unknown locations, and the painful separation of family members. The last letter was written on April 7, 1943; Dr. Feuereisen and his wife Marianne were deported in July 1943.
The collection also includes postcards written by friends to Dr. Feuereisen from the Lodz ghetto and Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp, and several certificates of transit issued to Dr. Feuereisen, allowing him to travel through the city in order to fulfill his work obligations. Two mimeographed copies sent to Erwin Fenner in 1962 from the Council of Jewish Religious Communities in Bohemia and Moravia document the deportation to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz of Dr. Feuereisen and his wife, and of family members Viktor, Elizabeth, Anna and Felix Altenstein.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Tauber Holocaust Library
JFCS Holocaust Center2245 Post Street
San Francisco, CA, 94115
415-449-3717
[email protected]
Conditions Governing Access note
There are no restrictions to access to this collection.
Conditions Governing Use note
There are no restrictions to use for this collection.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Jüdische Kultusgemeinde Prag.
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp).
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp).
Genre(s)
- Certificates — Prague
- Correspondence
- Postcards — Lodz
Geographic Name(s)
- Brno (Czech Republic) — History — 20th century
- Lodz (Poland)
- Prague (Czech Republic) — Social life
Occupation(s)
- Jewish physicians — Czechoslovakia
Personal Name(s)
- Fenner, Erwin
Subject(s)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) — Lodz
- Jewish ghettos — Lodz
- Jews — Persecutions — Poland — Lodz
- Jews, Prague
General note
According to the donor, the letters written by Dr. Feuereisen were left with the janitor of the building in which he lived, along with other letters, and were recovered to Mr. Fenner. The letters in this collection are copies; originals are in the Weiner Collection, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Collection Inventory
Dr. Walter Feuereisen postcards 1941-1943 |
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Postcard from Felix Altenstein, Theresienstadt, 1942 April 6 |
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Postcard from Lise Shansky, Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto, 1941 February 4 |
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Postcard from Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto, 1943 February 20 |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen certificates 1940-1943 |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen notices 1962General noteDocuments are mimeographed copies. |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen letters – 1941-1943General noteThese letters are typescript copies of original letters, which were donated by Erwin Fenner, Dr. Walter Feuereisen’s brother, to the Weiner Library, London, England. |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen letter to Erwin Fenner probably October 1941 |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen letter to Erwin Fenner 1942 March 21 |
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Dr. Walter Feuereisen letter to Erwin Fenner and Anny 1943 April 25 |
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