The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Browse Items (37 total)

  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f08_002.pdf

    Newspaper of the Louisville, Kentucky, Jewish Community Center and National Council of Jewish Women's Club 60. The publication includes an article beginning on page 3 that details the youth, immigration, and subsequent settling of Jewish Frenchman Jacques Wolff (1903-1977) in the United States. Includes his service in the French army, and his personal losses to the German army and the Holocaust, after which he was able to work in wholesale business in Louisville, Kentucky. Jacques was the husband of Denise Wolff, one of the founders of Club 60.

    Pages 6-8 are missing from the original version in the Filson's collection.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_002.pdf

    French identity card of Arthur Wolff (1877-1941), a Jewish Frenchman. Arthur was the husband of Aline Levy Wolff (d. 1941), and her brother Sol Levy arranged for their family's immigration to the United States to escape German occupation and the Holocaust.
  • MssA_L668_F06_002g.jpg

    World War II era French passport and additional documents such as a Remitter's receipt and a ticket owned by Denise Hirsch Wolff (1909-2000), a French Jewish woman. She was married to Jacques Wolff (1903-1977). The passport includes photographs of their young children, Francis Wolff (1931- ) and Hubert Wolff (1938- ). Blank visa pages were not scanned.

    Denise's uncle Sol Levy arranged for her family's immigration to Louisville, Kentucky, to escape German occupation and the Holocaust. The passport shows that in 1941, the family traveled in Spain and Portugal before boarding a ship to New York City.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_005.pdf

    French identity card of Denise Wolff (1909-2000), a Jewish Frenchwoman. Denise was the wife of Jacques Wolff (1903-1977), a nephew of Sol Levy. Levy arranged for the family's immigration to Louisville, Kentucky, to escape German occupation and the Holocaust.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssbd_j59_f0005_003.pdf

    Letter drafted by Charles Strull (1883-1964) to Louisville Conference of Jewish Organizations Chairman Charles W. Morris (1892-1961) for Morris to edit and send to the Executive Committee of the Conference requesting its support of the Free Port plan to support Jewish asylum seekers coming to the United States. Strull hopes adopting the plan would sway neutral Iberian countries in particular to assist Jews seeking asylum.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_004.pdf

    French identity card of Eugénie Baer Hirsch (1880-1967), a Jewish Frenchwoman. Eugénie was the widow of Jacques Hirsch, and mother of Denise Hirsch Wolff (1909-2000). She immigrated to the United States in 1947 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky.
  • MssA_L668_F06_003d.jpg

    French passport for Eugénie Baer Hirsch (1880-1967), a French Jewish woman. She was married to Jacques Hirsch and the mother of Denise Hirsch Wolff (1909-2000). She immigrated to the United States and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where her daughter had moved during World War II. Blank visa pages were not scanned.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_009.pdf

    World War II era French safe conduct pass for Eugénie Baer Hirsch, a French Jewish woman. She was married to Jacques Hirsch and the mother of Denise Hirsch Wolff (1909-2000).
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssa_w194b_f272_hebrew.pdf

    Letter from the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation to Louisville Times Editor Tom Wallace. The letter is signed by Secretary General S. Merlin. Merlin explains that he is responding to the paper's recent solicitation of opinions of "how to bring about a solution of the Jewish problem." He notes the "complexities of this age-old problem" and expresses "deep regret" over the resulting implications from opinions in the newspaper that there is "a world Jewish community with national and political characteristics." He further claims that the concept of "the universal Jewish nation, or Jewish people" is "detrimental to the very interests of our people." Six clarifying points follow in which Merlin discusses the differences he sees between nationality, "religious affiliation," and political terms. One major theme is that there "is a decisive distinction between the terms 'Hebrew' and 'Jew.'" Merlin explains that the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation seeks to "convince the United Nations that they must assume the responsibility of repatriating all the Hebrews from Europe who desire to . . . return to their national territory--Palestine." He concludes the letter by noting that this is "an international question" and that answering it is a "moral responsibility."
  • MssA_L668_F06_004b.jpg

    World War II era French passport, identity card, war ration booklet, and bread rationing card in possession of Henrietta Levy Cerf (1866-1946), a French Jewish woman. Her brother Sol Levy arranged for her and other family members' immigration to the United States to escape German occupation and the Holocaust. Blank visa pages were not scanned.
  • 024x6_meyeri_ocr.pdf

    Summary of an oral history interview conducted with Ilse Meyer (1923-2008) on October 15, 2001. The summary is accompanied by an obituary for Ilse Meyer. The interview was part of the Louisville Jewish Family and Career Services's project to document the lives of Jewish seniors in Louisville, Kentucky.
  • 024x6_bailens_ocr.pdf

    Summary of an oral history interview conducted with Shirley Bailen (1922-2019) in May 2018. The interview was part of the Louisville Jewish Family and Career Services's project to document the lives of Jewish seniors in Louisville, Kentucky.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_008.pdf

    World War II era French safe conduct pass for Jacques Hirsch, a Jewish Frenchman. He was married to Eugénie Baer Hirsch (1880-1967).
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_007.pdf

    Formal release of Jacques Wolff (1903-1977) from French military service during World War II. For more on Jacques service and life, see this 1965 biography: https://filsonhistorical.omeka.net/items/show/7047
    Jacques was married to Denise Wolff (1909-2000). His uncle Sol Levy arranged for their family's immigration to Louisville, Kentucky, to escape German occupation and the Holocaust.
  • MssA_L668_F06_001c.jpg

    World War II era French passport for Jacques Wolff (1903-1977), a Jewish man. He was married to Denise Wolff (1909-2000). His uncle Sol Levy arranged for their family's immigration to Louisville, Kentucky, to escape German occupation and the Holocaust. The passport shows that in 1941, the family traveled to Spain and Portugal before taking a ship to New York City. Blank visa pages were not scanned.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f02_002.pdf

    A two-page letter from Jewish American B. J. Lee to A. H. Frenke, confirming to Frenke that the Wolff family will receive passage from Lisbon, Portugal to New York City, New York on May 2, 1941.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssbd_j59_f0005_001.pdf

    Letter from the Louisville Conference of Jewish Organizations in Kentucky to President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting that he support the Free Ports proposal to provide asylum for refugees fleeing "totalitarian persecution." The Conference sent a similar advocacy letter to the Kentucky Senator Alben William Barkley.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssbd_j59_f0005_002.pdf

    A copy of a letter written by Chairman Charles W. Morris (1892-1961) to the leadership of the Louisville Conference of Jewish Organizations informing them of the American Jewish Conference's request that their organization contact their government representatives and President Roosevelt to advocate for the creation of Free Ports to enable European Jewish refugees to seek asylum in the United States. The letter includes a ballot for the local organization to vote on their stance on the Free Port plan. A handwritten note on the back of the formal typed letter is addressed to Morris provides Dr. Rauch's view of the plan.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_l668_f05_006.pdf

    Two-page letter from Francis Wolff (1931- ) to his father Jacques Wolff (1903-1977). Written in French.
  • https://filsonhistoricalimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/mssa_b527a_f01_002.pdf

    A letter from retired Louisville distiller and philanthropist Isaac W. Bernheim (1848-1945) to A. B. Cowen reflecting on the state of Judaism and Jewish life in the United States in relation to World War II and broader changes. He stresses elements of Reform Judaism and argues against the undercurrents of Zionism, referring to Judaism as "a universal religion which knows no land or people or race."
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