Guide to the Jacobowitz family papers, 1942-1945
1988.1115

Summary Information

Repository
Tauber Holocaust Library
Creator
Jacobowitz family
Title
Jacobowitz family papers
ID
1988.1115
Date [inclusive]
1942-1945
Extent
2.0 Folder(s)
Language
Multiple languages
Language of Materials note
Materials are primarily in German, Dutch and English.
Mixed materials [Folder]
Archives Box 12
Abstract
This collection is comprised of documents and artifacts belonging to members of the Jacobowitz family and document their experiences during the Holocaust while imprisoned in Westerbork Concentration Camp in the Netherlands and in Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

Preferred Citation note

Jacobowitz family papers - 1988-1115, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

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Biographical/Historical note

Absent biographical material, most of this history is drawn from an examination of the collection documents themselves.

Elfriede Ollendorff Jacobowitz (Jakobowitz) was born in Breslau, Germany in October 4, 1892. It appears that she and her family left Germany and settled in Utrecht in September 1941. By 1943 Elfriede was interned in Westerbork Concentration Camp. Correspondence indicates that the family of Elfriede Jacobowitz and the family of Henny Gabriele Jacobowitz were registered on an exchange list for Palestine and were so notified in November 1943. A response to a Red Cross message dated December 25, 1944 places Elfriede in Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia. An identification card dated March 1945 indicates that she worked as a personnel clerk in a mica processing plant, presumably in Theresienstadt. In June 1945, Elfriede Jacobowitz requested repatriation to the Hague, Netherlands from the Czechoslovak Repatriation Office.

Another family member, Henny Gabriele Jacobowitz, to whom correspondence regarding the Palestine prisoner exchange was sent, was born on August 20, 1923 in Breslau and perished in Bergen-Belsen camp on March 30, 1945, according to In Memoriam. Sdu Uitgeverij Koninginnegracht, Den Haag 1995.

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Scope and Contents note

The collection comprises documents and artifacts of the Jacobowitz family during the period 1942-1945. It documents the experiences of the family who deported to Westerbork, a transit camp in the Netherlands, and in Terezin, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Of particular interest may be a bulletin listing what possessions deportees were allowed to take Westerbork. Artifacts include a yellow Jewish star badge and an armband from Westerbork

Documents indicate that members of this family were chosen for a prisoner exchange to Palestine, but at least one member was a displaced person in Czechoslovakia after the war ended.

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Arrangement note

The collection is divided between documents and artifacts, and within each series, to the extent possible, chronologically.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Tauber Holocaust Library

JFCS Holocaust Center
2245 Post Street
San Francisco, CA, 94115
415-449-3717
[email protected]

Conditions Governing Access note

There are no restrictions to access for this collection.

Conditions Governing Use note

There are no restrictions to use for this collection.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Westerbork (Concentration camp).

Genre(s)

  • Armbands
  • Artifacts
  • Correspondence -- Netherlands
  • Family papers -- Netherlands
  • Stars of David -- Netherlands

Personal Name(s)

  • Fischer, Ruth S.

Subject(s)

  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Netherlands
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Netherlands

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Collection Inventory

Documents 1942-1945 

Elfriede Jakobowitz Essenkarte (Food ration card), undated 

Anleitung was ungefaehr zweckmaessig nach Kamp Westerbork mitzunehmen ist [Insructions on what possessions can be taken to Westerbork], undated 

General note

Reverse of document contains rules regarding postal communication and visits to Camp Westerbork.

Elfried Jakobowitz Note from Zentralsekretariat, undated 

Elfriede Jacobowitz-Ollendorf letter from Der Reichskommissar Fuer Die Besetzten Niederlandischen Gebiete [Reich Commissioner Office for Occupied Netherlands], 1942 June 10 

Jakobowitz family Red Cross messages, 1943 November 11 

Henny Gaoriele Jacobowitz letter from Office Palestinien de Suisse, 1943 November 22 

Elfriede Jacobowitz Identification card from Westerbork, 1944 May 2 

Elfriede Jakobowitz Identification card [from Terezin?], 1945 March 15 

Elfriede Jacobowitz-Ollendorff Czechoslovak Repatriation Office Registration Certificate, 1945 June 5 

Elfriede Jacobowitz Impfkarte [vaccination card] from Terezin, undated 

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Artifacts undated 

Metal file, undated 

Star of David, undated 

Armband from Westerbork Concentation camp, undated 

Leather purse, undated 

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