Josef Oppenheimer

Family

Persecution

Liberation

1945, Oranienburg. Released to Stuttgart. Contracted TB, sent to Bavarian sanatorium.

Emigration

Location Trail

1. StuttgartBorn · 28.03.1925
2. EsslingenSent to Esslinger Waisenhaus · 1929
3. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 15.06.1930
4. Großbreesen, near BreslauAt Großbreesen emigration training farm · 1939
5. New York, New York, USALetter · 1939
6. Zug, SwitzerlandLetter · 04.02.1939
7. Bad CannstattLetter · 04.11.1939
8. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 1940
9. München (Munich) and Stuttgart, GermanyLetter · 17.07.1940
10. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 1941
11. Hannover, GermanyLetter · 1941
12. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 27.08.1941
13. Hannover, GermanyLetter · 10.1941
14. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 11.10.1941
15. KZ TheresienstadtInterned · 01.1942
16. München (Munich), GermanyLetter · 18.03.1942
17. KZ Oranienburg (Sachsenhausen)Interned · 1944
18. OranienburgLiberated · 1945
19. Neuwiesenstraße 239, Stuttgart-LederbergResided (1946) · 1946
20. Stuttgart-Lederberg / GemmingenLetters to Mina Kaufmann · 30.10.1946
21. Stuttgart-LederbergLetter · 30.10.1946
22. GemmingenLetter · 30.10.1946
23. Florida, USAEmigrated to · 17.08.1949
24. IsraelLetter · 1963

Timeline

• 1924Born in Stuttgart
• 1929Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus
• 1939At Großbreesen emigration training farm
• 01.1942Deported to KZ Theresienstadt
• 1944Transferred to KZ Sachsenhausen near Berlin
• 1945Liberated from Oranienburg
• 30.10.1946Letters to Mina Kaufmann
• 17.08.1949Emigrates to Florida, USA

Correspondence

Handwritten letter (page 2 / continuation)1930Typed updated affidavit of support from Samuel Morris1939Typed letter (page 1 of 2), marked "Abschrift" (copy)1939Letter seeking emigration sponsorship1939Handwritten letter discussing shipping of belongings, with inventory1940Handwritten letter with multiple short notes from different writers1940Letter enclosing a handwritten Abschrift of the American Consulate's visa refusal, Stuttgart 15 July 19401940Envelope back — airmail letter1941Handwritten letter in German Kurrent script, written upside-down on page (rot...1941Envelope front — airmail letter1941Handwritten letter — two separate notes: a condolence letter and a personal note1941Envelope back — airmail letter1941Handwritten letter on blue/green paper1941Handwritten letter1941Handwritten short letter/note1942Handwritten letter to cousin — family fate1946Typed letter to Mina Kaufmann requesting affidavit1946Margit Bernstein Memoir (1963)1963

Notes

Sent to Esslinger Waisenhaus (Jewish orphanage) as child

Beginning 1939: Jewish emigration training (Hachshara) in Esslingen, then Großbreesen near Breslau

30.10.1946: Typed letter from Stuttgart-Lederberg via AJDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) office in Stuttgart, Reinsburgstr. 19, requesting affidavit for USA

30.10.1946: Handwritten 3-page letter from Gemmingen confirming family fate: father died Buchenwald, Julius/Elsa deported and never returned, Frieda and children deported and never returned. Only Josef and Margit survived.

After liberation: found family belongings scattered, some property returned, porcelain to a Frau Kleene. Encountered hostile post-war environment.

Mentions 'Cousin Mina in Franklinton' (separate from Baltimore Mina?) and 'Cousin Sophie' in 1946 letters

Enclosed letter about Jewish history in Gemmingen with his 1946 correspondence

Simon's late 1941 letter confirms Josef 'still at Gross-Breesen' agricultural training farm near Breslau.

Wife: Rhoda W. Oppenheimer (per Geni.com)

Geni.com lists birth date as March 28, 1925 — existing data says 1924. Discrepancy needs verification.

Memoir: Arrived at Theresienstadt 14 days before Margit, from Silesia (likely via Sachsenhausen/Oranienburg).

Memoir: Brother also returned after the war. Heard while in Hamburg that Margit had survived.

Memoir: After liberation, Margit went to Siegfried's birthday flowers ceremony — met her brother there.