Leon Weinstein collection 2021.004.h.r
Tiana Taliep
Oskar Schindler Archives
9/8/2021
Contributing Institution:
Oskar Schindler Archives
Title: Leon Weinstein collection
Identifier/Call Number: 2021.004.h.r
Physical Description:
1 Files
Date (inclusive): 1940-1949
Abstract: The collection contains a reproduction of Leon Weinstein's false identity documents, as well as membership cards of the Committee
of Polish Jews from Breslau and the Society of Zionist Democrates.
Language of Material:
German
.
The collection contains a reproduction of the false identity passbook "Kennkarte" used by Leon Weinstein. In addition, a false
identity assumed by Leon Weinstein by the General Government from Warsaw, Poland, in 1942. Both documents used Weinstein's
false name, Leonard Cravnecki. The collection includes, a card identifying Weinstein as the Chairman of the Committee of Polish
Jews from Breslau, Germany, in 1946. As well as, there is a separate card that identifies Weinstein as a member of the "Ichud,"
the Society of Zionist Democrats, from Breslau in 1947.
Leon Weinstein was born on May 13, 1911, in the village of Radzymin, Poland. At twelve years old, Weinstein became an apprentice
to a local tailor. But he would then travel to Warsaw, without telling his parents to seek better employment opportunities.
Continuing to work as a tailor, Weinstein saved money to return to his hometown at the age of eighteen. Weinstein joined the
Polish Army and served two years in the cavalry.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Leon fought on the front line. Captured, he was sent a prison camp in Kovel,
Ukraine. He managed to escape, walking 500 miles back to Radzymin. In the Radzymin ghetto, he joined the underground, smuggling
arms to the resistance. Altered by German soldier's offhand remark, Leon fled with his wife, Sima, and infant daughter, Natalie,
born in 1940, just before the ghetto was liquidated and its Jews sent to the death camp Treblinka. Of his large family, only
he survived.
The couple now focused their efforts to save their child. Homeless, and with no money, they abandoned their daughter to save
her life. Natalie was dressed warmly and had a cross placed around her neck, a sign proclaiming she is the daughter of a war
widow unable to feed her. Then they left her on the steps of a police station. Sima went into hiding, Leon returned to the
Warsaw ghetto, fighting in the upspring. He was among the few to escape through the rat-infested sewers. He would never learn
what happened to his wife.
At war's end, his single hope was to find Natalie. For six months, Leon traveled across Poland on his bicycle, searching one
convent orphanage after another. After visiting many, he spotted Natalie and immediately recongized her. He was able to confirm
the identification by her birthmark above her hip. Natalie was four years old. A few months later, Leon met Sophie, a survivor
of Auschwitz. They married and in 1952 came to the United States. Natalie, as an adult, married, had two children and became
a psychotherapist. Leon died in Los Angeles, California on December 28, 2011.
The collection is processed in chronological order.
This collection is open for research use.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
[Item title/description, Box Number/Folder Number] Leon Weinstein collection (2021.004.h.r), Oskar Schindler Archive, Chapman
University, CA.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Holocaust survivors -- History -- 20th Century
Holocaust victims
Jewish children in the Holocaust
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal Narratives
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Poland
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Warsaw, Poland, 1943
Jewish refugees--California, Southern.
Jewish refugees--United States--History--20th century.