Paula Abelow collection

Paula Abelow was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1923 to Felix Brunner and Eugenie Lieben Brunner. She had two siblings, Alice and Walter. Felix traveled often as a stamp collector and international dealer, while Eugenie stayed home and raised the children. Eugenie had a large family, and had several sisters who were close to the family, including Sophie, Josefa (Pepi), Hedwig, and Charlotte (Lotte). In September of 1938, Felix was in Zurich, Switzerland to show his private stamp collection at an international stamp exhibit. A client, Galeazzo Ciano, was son-in-law to Benito Mussolini and warned Felix not return to Prague and to get his family out. In the meantime, the Munich agreement was signed, and Felix rushed to have a plane chartered to arrive in Prague and help his wife, children, and mother-in-law Hermine Lieben escape. The family arrived in Zurich in September of 1938, but Hermine would return to Prague, where she later committed suicide in 1941. The children were placed in boarding schools so they could retain the right to stay in Switzerland. Felix and Eugenie left for the United States on a travel visa. The children would reunite with their parents in March of 1940, but the visa had expired and they were forced to leave. They traveled to Mexico City where they stayed for a year while waiting to be approved for formal immigration into the United States. After the war ended, news arrived about Eugenie’s sisters. Sophie and Charlotte who had been deported and killed, while Josefa and Hedwig, both of whom worked at Theresienstadt, had survived. Paula soon met Ira Abelow, and in 1948 they were married. The Paula Abelow collection consists primarily of photographs and correspondence with her family. Contained within the collection are correspondence from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends to Paula, her sister Alice and her brother Walter while they were living in Switzerland in 1938-1939. Also included are 4 family photo albums, as well as some loose photographs depicting the family on vacations and their travels to the United States and Mexico. Additional documents include a work permit, and photocopies of her aunt’s birth and death certificate. The Paula Abelow contains primarily correspondence and photographs with Paula and her family. The correspondence is addressed to Paula, and her sister Alice and her brother Walter. The letters are dated from 1938-1939, and are from the period when the children were placed in a Swiss boarding school while their parents attempted to gain citizenship to the United States. The letters are written in Czech and German, and are from their parents, grandmother, aunts, and family friends. Some of the letters have multiple authors per page, and have been placed in the folder labeled “Various.” These letters are still primarily from Paula’s grandmother, parents and aunts. The photograph series is comprised of four photo albums and a folder of loose photographs. The albums show the family both at home and on vacation with relatives and friends prior to World War II. Some of the photos follow Paula’s parents on their quest to gain American citizenship, and show them in New York and Mexico City. Also included in the collection are documents collected by Paula from her aunts Sophie, Josefa, and Hedwig. They are a work permit from Theresienstadt, and photocopies of a birth and death certificate.