Reich and Hayman family papers, 1600-1991, bulk 1914-1944

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Summary

Creators:
Reich, Joseph Paul, Hayman, Hanna Grete (Reich), Reich, Anneliese Stella (Kohnstamm), and Kohnstamm, Oskar Felix
Abstract:
This collection contains the personal papers of Dr. Joseph Reich and members of his extended family. It contains photographs and artifacts as well as correspondence, legal documents, and some ephemera, mostly from the period from World War I to World War II. Dr. Joseph (Josef) Paul Reich, M.D. was born 1887 June 16 in Breslau. He studied neurology, and was licensed to practice medicine in Germany in 1911. His father-in-law was Dr. Oskar Kohnstamm, M.D., founder of the Sanatorium Dr. Kohnstamm in Koenigstein im Taunus and well-known doctor of internal medicine. Serving in the German Army during World War I, Dr. Reich received an Iron Cross First Class in 1914 and stayed in the armed forces, likely in some sort of medical capacity. Because of his Jewish ancestry, Dr. Reich first left Germany for America as an immigrant on 1935 December 30. By 1939, Dr. Reich was already published in American medical journals, studying some of the same topics that his father-in-law Dr. Kohnstamm had, such as psychoanalytic self-observation.
Extent:
6.53 Linear Feet 8 boxes
Language:
English and Most of the material is in German.
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Reich and Hayman family papers, Collection no. 6047, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

The Reich and Hayman family papers encompass the lives of the two families both in Germany during World War I through the interwar period and in America after their exile from Nazi Germany. The collection contains photographs of Dr. Josef Reich during his service in the German army in World War I and artifacts from both World Wars such as a ration book or Dr. Reich's Iron Cross. In addition, it features both families' correspondence, legal documents, miscellaneous articles and clippings they had saved, and some ephemera from interwar Germany.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Joseph (Josef) Paul Reich, M.D. was born 1887 June 16 in Breslau, which is in modern-day Poland, but at the time of his birth was within the German Empire. He was raised Jewish, and his parents were Dr. Karl Reich, M.D., General Practitioner for the Geheimer Sanitaetsrat, and Julie Reich nee Henschel. He attended the Koenig-Wilhelms-Gymnasiums zu Breslau for secondary school, eventually studied neurology at the University of Heidelberg, and was licensed to practice medicine in Germany in 1911. Serving in the German Army during World War I, Dr. Reich received an Iron Cross First Class in 1914, two additional awards, and stayed in the armed forces in a medical capacity. After returning from the war, Reich married Anneliese Stella Kohnstamm on 1923 August 9 in Frankfurt am Main.

Anneliese was born on 1900 August 3 in Koenigstein im Taunus and raised Protestant. She had three brothers: Rudolf, Werner, and Peter. Her mother was Eva Pauline Kohnstamm nee Gad; her father was the famous internal medicine doctor Oskar Felix Kohnstamm, M.D., a specialist in neurology and psychiatry who founded the Sanatorium Dr. Kohnstamm in Koenigstein im Taunus. Anneliese's grandfather on her mother's side was Dr. Prof. Gad, who had taught Dr. Kohnstamm while he was at university.

On 1924 August 4, Dr. and Mrs. Reich had their first and only child, Hanna Grete Reich. Because of his Jewish ancestry, Dr. Reich first left Germany for America as an immigrant on 1935 December 30, and completed an American medical residency at the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. He began the process of applying for American citizenship and becoming certified to practice medicine in Chicago. In 1937, Anneliese and Hanna Reich joined him. By 1939, Dr. Reich was already published in American medical journals, studying some of the same topics that his father-in-law Dr. Kohnstamm had, such as psychoanalytic self-observation. The Reich family stayed in the United States, and eventually Hanna married a fellow German Jewish refugee in America, Gerald Oswald Hayman.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Ann C. Hayman, February 14, 2014, October 2014, and February 2017.
Processing information:

When the Reich-Hayman family papers (and the corresponding Kohnstamm papers) were originally donated, they were arranged and organized according to the materials available at the time. The donor then added to the collection a number of other items, which had been organized by name/subject rather than topic. Because of the discrepancy in the two organizational systems, the priority has been to retain as much of the original organization as possible. Related materials have been marked with a note in the finding aid in order to facilitate ease of use in cases where they were separated.

Similarly, while the materials donated were divided originally into the Oskar Kohnstamm papers and the Reich and Hayman family papers, the two are very complimentary and can be used to supplement each other. Because nearly every major person whose effects can be found in the papers is related by blood or marriage and part of the same extended family, there is a great deal of overlap between the two (Anneliese Reich was Oskar Kohnstamm's daughter; Eva Kohnstamm lived with her granddaughter Hanna Hayman later in her life; etc.). Upon reevaluation of the materials upon the second donation, it has been processed so that the Oskar Kohnstamm papers' focus is the more "official" or "business" side of the materials, including published medical journal articles and information regarding the Sanatorium Dr. Kohnstamm in Koenigstein im Taunus. On the other hand, the Reich and Hayman family papers will be as their name implies: more personal, and mostly regarding the extended Kohnstamm-Reich-Hayman family and their friends.

Boxs 5, 6, 7 and 8 are unprocessed.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Reich and Hayman family papers, Collection no. 6047, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library, Room 209
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189, US
Contact:
(213) 740-5900
specol@usc.edu
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