Guide to Jenny Kamnitzer papers
1988.1286

Summary Information

Repository
Tauber Holocaust Library
Creator
Kamnitzer, Jenny
Title
Jenny Kamnitzer papers
ID
1988.1286
Date [inclusive]
1939-1947
Extent
1.0 Folder(s)
Language
Multiple languages
Language of Materials note
Materials are in German, English and Chinese.
Mixed materials [Box]
Archives Box 5
Abstract
This collection comprises documents relating to the emigration of a German Jew, Jenny Kamnitzer, from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, China in 1940, and her subsequent emigration to the United States in 1947.

Preferred Citation note

Jenny Kamnitzer papers, 1939-1947, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

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Biographical/Historical note

The collection documents the experience of German and Austrian Jews forced to flee from Germany and Austria during Hitler’s Third Reich. Denied admittance to most countries, thousands of German and Austrian Jews found their way to Shanghai, where visas and passports were not required until the Japanese occupation. After 1941, the occupying Nazi-aligned Japanese ghettoized the Jewish refugees in Shanghai into an area known as the Shanghai Ghetto.

Jenny Kamnitzer was born in Langen, Germany on July 13, 1880. In 1940, when she emigrated to Shanghai, she was living in Hamburg. Papers in the collection indicate that Siegfried Kamnitzer (date of birth July 26, 1908), donor of the papers, left Germany for Shanghai in 1939; it is likely that Mrs. Kamnitzer followed him there. In 1941, while living in Shanghai, Mrs. Kamnitzer began the process of applying for emigration to the United States. She was admitted to the United States in San Francisco, California on March 19, 1947.

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Scope and Contents note

The collection is comprised of documents relating to the wartime experiences of Jenny Kamnitzer, a German Jew who fled Nazi Germany for the relative safety of Shanghai, China, including her stay in Shanghai during the war years, and her successful emigration from Shanghai to San Francisco after World War II.

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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.

Custodial History note

The Jenny Kamnitzer papers were donated to the Holocaust Center of Northern California by Mr. Siegfried Kamnitzer.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

There are numerous collections in the Tauber Holocaust Library’s archives which document the experiences of German and Austrian Jews who lived in Shanghai during the war years. Consult archivist for more information.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

  • Immigration records
  • Passports

Geographic Name(s)

  • Shanghai (China) -- Emigration and immigration
  • United States -- Emigration and immigration

Personal Name(s)

  • Kamnitzer, Siegfried

Subject(s)

  • Jewish refugees -- China -- Shanghai
  • Jews, German -- Migrations
  • Jews, German -- Shanghai -- Migrations
  • Women immigrants -- United States
  • Women refugees -- Shanghai

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Collection Inventory

Jenny Kamnitzer German immigration records 

Jenny Kamnitzer Reisepass (Passport) 1940 

Jenny Kamnitzer Kennkarte 1940 May 20 

Jenny Kamnitzer Umzugsgutverzeichnis (official list of items taken upon leaving Germany) 1940 June 20 

Jenny Kamnitzer Meldeschein (Registration) 1940 October 17 

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Jenny Kamnitzer Shanghai records 

Jenny Kamnitzer Card of Identification, issued by the International Committee for the Organization of European Immigrants in China, Shanghai 1940 September 13 

Jenny Kamnitzer Resident Certificate, Shanghai Undated 

Jenny Kamnitzer letter from the American Consul in Shanghai, China regarding immigration visa 1941 June 17 

Jenny Kamnitzer International Certificates of Inoculation and Vaccination 1946 

Jenny Kamnitzer immigration documents – affidavit, Receipt of Application for Naturalization, photograph 1947 

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Siegfried Kamnitzer document 

Siegfried Kamnitzer Abmeldung (Notice of Departure), Frankfurt, Germany for Shanghai 1939 April 15 

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