Finding Aid for the Cantor Leopold and Isabelle Szneer collection 2020.006.h.r
Tiana Taliep and Will Hoskin
Oskar Schindler Archives
2/24/2020
Note
Some items are on display in the Holocaust Memorial Library.
Contributing Institution:
Oskar Schindler Archives
Title: Cantor Leopold and Isabelle Szneer collection
source:
Szneer, Leopold
source:
Szneer, Isabelle
Identifier/Call Number: 2020.006.h.r
Physical Description:
2.38 Linear Feet
Date (bulk): 1906-1960
Condition Description: Good
Abstract: The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, documents, and books, belonging to Cantor Leopold Szneer and Isabelle Szneer.
Parents, family, and friends of Leopold and Isabelle are featured prominently as well. In addition, the collection comprises
prayer books, and prayer clothing including a Tallit and Shabbat apron, as well as, a parochet, the curtain that covers the
Torah.
Language of Material:
English
, French
, Hebrew
.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
There are no restrictions on the use of this material expect where perviously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Preferred Citation
[Item title/description; Box number/Folder number] Cantor Leopold and Isabelle Szneer collection (2020.006.h.r), Oskar Schindler
Archive, Chapman University, CA.
Biographical / Historical
Cantor Leopold Szneer
Cantor Leopold Szneer was born on December 21, 1921, in Munich, Germany. From a young age, he knew he wanted to become a Chazzan
(Cantor). He studied chazzanut and performed as a soloist in his synagogue's choir. Nazism's rise to power threatened to end
his dream. His Jewish school was closed, he and other Jewish children had to attend public schools, where they were confronted
with anti-Semitism.
In 1935, Leopold left Munich to attend a theological seminary in Frankfurt. However, under Nazi pressure, it closed in 1938.
On November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht erupted throughout the country, Leopold was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp
at the age of sixteen. After spending five weeks, the Jewish Federation and Red Cross were able to free him because he was
underage.
On December 20, 1938, Szneer's parents placed him on a Kindertransport to Belgium. The transport was a rescue effort to get
Jewish children safely out of the country. His sister Ester got a visa to go to England in early 1939. His parents and another
sister, Hanna, stayed in Munich until July 1939, and later joined Szneer. Unfortunately, German troops invaded Belgium on
May 10, 1940, and the family was in grave danger once again.
The family hid in a dog shelter but were discovered and sent to the transit camp Malines. Since it was days before Rosh Hashana,
Szneer gathered his father and ten men to form a High Holiday service in a hidden bunk. Denounced by a fellow prisoner, Szneer
and the entire camp were ordered to confess who had dared to pray. Szneer stepped forward, and the S.S. officer warned him,
"Here we do not pray."
In the next years, Szneer was located in the Breendonck concentration camp, including a time of solitary confinement. Eventually,
with the help of the resistance, he escaped, joined the partisan, and returned to Brussels, hiding for nine months in a small
attic until the city was liberated by the Allies. Only then did Szneer learn that his parents had been murdered at Auschwitz
in early 1944.
In 1946, Szneer met fellow survivor Isabelle Lubinewski who he married a year later. In 1952 the couple came to Los Angeles,
United States, and in 1953 Cantor Szneer led his first High Holiday service in his new home. He led services throughout the
L.A. region and was cantor at Congregation Mogen David in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. He also held High Holiday services
at the Writer's Guild for 25 years.
The Szneers have worked with local universities, synagogues, and schools to further Holocaust studies. Cantor Leopold Szneer
passed away on May 26, 2016.
Isabelle Szneer
Isabelle Szneer was born in Brussels, Belgium, on May 26, 1924. Her parents Charles and Hinda Lubinewski, had emigrated to
Belgium after World War I. Her family was considered stateless because the Belgian government refused to grant them citizenship.
Following the Nazi German invasion of Belgium on May 10, 1940, the Lubinewski family attempted to flee to southern France
but were unable to escape. Compelled to register as Jews, the family experienced growing harassment and isolation. On August
3, 1942, Isabelle, then eighteen years old, received a summons to report immediately to the transit camp Malines for deportation.
If she failed to obey, her father would be taken in her place. Desperate to keep his family together, Isabelle's father devised
a solution. If his daughter immediately married a Belgian citizen, she would no longer be subject to the order. An 80-year-old
resident of a retirement home agreed to the sham marriage, and the ceremony took place the following day. Isabelle was spared.
Sometimes separated, the family would spend the ensuing years in a succession of hiding places. The support from the Belgian
resistance enabled the family to survive until liberation in September 1944. On March 16, 1947, Isabelle wed Leopold Szneer.
Isabelle Szneer passed away on November 26, 2019.
Scope and Contents
The Cantor Leopold Szneer and Isabelle Szneer Collection is arranged into four series, photographs, documents, books, and
Jewish religious objects. The bulk dates are from 1906 to 1960, and the majority of photographs and documents span from 1920
to 1949. The photograph series is organized into subseries based on the individuals featured prominently in the photo. The
photographs and scrapbooks depict Leopold Szneer and Isabelle Szneer in their adolescence and as young adults. The photographs
portray families, relatives, and friends of the Szneers. Locations include Munich, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; London, United
Kingdom; and Los Angeles, United States. The documents in this collection are mostly identification papers and passports and
notably, include naturalization documents that allowed the Szneers to live legally in the United States. The religious items
are prayer books and prayer clothing, including a Tallit and Shabbat apron. The bulk of religious items are from before World
War II and survived the war, and were passed on to Isabelle and Leopold by various family members. Also, the collection contains
a parochet, the curtain that covers the Torah.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Holocaust survivors -- History -- 20th Century
Jewish women in the Holocaust
Holocaust victims
Kindertransports (Rescue operations)
Breendonk (Concentration camp)
Dachau (Concentration camp)
Judaism--Ritual objects.
Stateless persons--Europe.
Kristallnacht, 1938
Jewish refugees--United States--History--20th century.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Belgium.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Munich.
Holocaust, Jewish ( 1939-1945)--Germany--Frankfurt am Main.
Szneer, Leopold
Szneer, Isabelle
Books
Scope and Contents
The Book Series consists of Cantor Leopold Szneer's personal books dated between 1906 and 1950. It includes four prayer books
and a bound paper by Otis Chandler presented at the Yad Vashem. The prayer books are written in German and Hebrew. Cantor
Szneer might have used these prayer books during services at the Congregation Mogen David in Los Angeles, where he led services
for twenty years. This series is arranged chronologically by the book.
box 1, item 2
Gedichte von Wolfgang von Goethe
1922
box 1, item 4
The Jews in Nazi Germany
1950
Jewish Religious Objects
Scope and Contents
The Jewish Religious Objects series contain special objects referred to as ritual objects of Judaica. Many people like to
use or collect unique crafted objects.
The Parochet is a draping for the Holy Ark, which contains the Torah scrolls, the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures.
Created in Poland in the late 1880s, this Parochet draped the Holy Ark in Beth Hamedrah, the "Russian Synagogue," as it was
known, in Munich, Germany. In 1936, under the pressure of growing Nazi anti-Semitism, the synagogue closed. The Parochet was
brought to England and was later given to Cantor Szneer.
The Tallit prayer shawl belongs to Cantor Szneer's father, Moses Szneer. It was given to Moses by friends at his wedding on
February 19, 1919. The Tallit was brought to England by Moses's daughter, Ester, in 1938, before Kristallnacht.
The Shabbat Apron, worn at Shabbat dinner, was hand-sewn in Poland and belonged to Hinda Hecht Lubinewski, mother of Isabelle
Szneer. Hinda brought the apron with her when she immigrated to Belgium in 1921. In 1957, the apron was passed to her daughter
Isabelle at her death.
Mortar and Pestle used nuts and spices, which belonged to Adele Hecht, the maternal grandmother of Isabell Szneer. Adele gave
them to her daughter Hinda when she moved from Poland to Belgium in 1921. In 1957, the Mortar and Pestle passed to her daughter
Isabelle at Hinda's death.
The first Havadallah plate was given to Cantor Szneer by the Krause family at his bar mitzvah in 1934. Wine is poured into
the Havadallah plate to end Shabbat, the day of rest. The other plate is hand-painted, belonging to Hinda Hecht, the mother
of Isabelle Szneer. Hinda brought the set with her when she moved from Poland to Belgium in 1921.
These items are on permanent exhibition in the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library.
Additionally, the series encompasses Leopold and Isabelle's marriage license. The marriage license is called a ketubah. In
the Jewish tradition, the ketubah provides the groom's responsibilities to the bride. The text is primarily the same in all
Jewish communities, but the ketubah's decoration can range in styles and shapes depending on the location and artistic traditions.
Leopold and Isabella signed their ketubah before their wedding day. It is a large document with a light pink background boarded
by large gold flowers. The center of the marriage contract is a passage written in Hebrew in black ink. At the bottom, there
are two signatures with dates.
drawer 5, drawer 5
Jewish Marriage License (Ketubah) for Isabelle and Leopold Szneer
1947
Photographs
Scope and Contents
Photos in this collection are of Cantor Leopold Szneer and Isabelle Szneer, as well as their family and friends. The photos
are a combination of photos rehoused from a scrapbook kept by Isabelle Szneer and individual photographs. The photos are organized
based on the individual and in chronological order.
The photographs primarily document Leopold and Isabelle's childhood and early adult life, in addition to pictures of family
and friends. Most of the photographs were taken between 1945 to 1952 in Brussels, Belgium as the family collectively recovered
from the war. The collection also includes childhood photos of Isabelle and Leopold Szneer as they grew up in Brussels and
Munich. The series includes photos of Eta and Moses Szneer, Leopold's parents, who perished in Auschwitz in 1944. The series
also consists of photos of Isabelle's sister Adele Lubenewski (Luben) and Leopold's sister Ester Szneer.
Cantor Leopold Szneer and Isabelle Szneer
Scope and Contents
This subseries of Leopold and Isabelle Szneer includes photos of each person's respective youth, their wedding, and photos
they took as a couple. Group photos with other friends and family are organized into later subseries.
Leopold Szneer's folders contain photos that document Leopold Szneer's religious upbringing in Munich, Germany until he was
arrested at the age of sixteen by the Nazis. Of particular note are photos taken of Leopold Szner's synagogue choir in Munich
in 1933, the same year that Hitler took power in Germany. The collection does not include any photographs of Leopold Szneer's
experiences at a concentration camp;however, it features a photograph processed on November 15, 1938, days after Kristallnacht.
At this time, Cantor Szneer had already been arrested and taken to Dachau. The series continues after the war in Brussels,
Belgium, where Cantor Szneer lived until 1952. The folders include photos of Cantor Szneer after moving to Hollywood, California,
and later in his life.
The folders that contain photos of Isabelle (Lubenewski) Szneer individually are of her childhood and youth living in Brussels,
Belgium. Her childhood and youth photos include professional portraits, photos of vacations and travel, and downtown Brussels.
Of particular interest are Leopold and Isabelle Szneer's wedding day photos taken on February 19, 1947. In addition, photographs
of their various trips in Brussels and visits to the beach community of Blankenberge, Belgium.
document-box 2, folder 3
Isabelle Szneer
1924-1946
document-box 2, folder 4
Isabelle Szneer
1946-1960
document-box 2, folder 5
Isabelle and Leopold couple
1946-1949
Leopold Szneer's family
Scope and Contents
This subseries includes photos of Leopold Szneer, his sisters Ester and Hanna, his parents Eta and Moses Szneer, and other
family members. The first folder in this subseries includes portraits of the Szneer family together in pre-war Munich, Germany.
The following folders highlight Leopold Szneer's parents, Eta and Moses Szneer. These are some of the oldest photographs in
the collection, taken in the early 1900s. Moses and Eta Szneer were both murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.
This subseries also includes class photographs of Leopold Szneer and his siblings in Munich in the early 1930s. There is also
a folder of photos of Ester Szneer, her husband Otto Fleischmann, and their son Robert, who lived in London, United Kingdom.
document-box 2, folder 10
Szneer family portraits
1922-1934
document-box 2, folder 11
Moses and Eta Szneer
1920-1930
document-box 2, folder 12
Moses and Eta Szneer
1930-1938
document-box 2, folder 13
Class Photos (Munich)
1930-1933
document-box 2, folder 14
Ester Szneer and Otto Fleischmann
1938-1950
Isabelle Szneer's family
Scope and Contents
This subseries encompasses photos of Isabelle Szneer's family. The first folder contains photos of the Lubenski family together,
including Isabelle Szneer, Adele Lubenewski (Luben), Schia Lubenewski (Luben), and Hinda Lubenewski. These photos range from
early in Isabelle's life until 1947 when she and Adele were both adults. The folder includes the family on vacation, in professional
portraits, and Brussels, Belgium.
The following folder includes Isabelle Szneer's parents, Schia Lubenewski (Luben), and Hinda Lubenewski (Luben). The folder
consists of photos of the two together and individually.
This subseries also includes a folder of photos of Isabelle's sister Adele Lubenewski (Luben) and a folder of Isabelle and
Adele together. Adele is prominently featured in this collection, both in individual and group photographs.
This subseries also includes a folder of Leopold Szneer with the Lubenewski family. Leopold Szneer joined the Lubenewskis
on their trips and excursions, and appeared in group photographs with the family.
document-box 2, folder 15
Lubenewski (Luben) family
1930-1947
document-box 2, folder 16
Schia and Hinda Lubenewski
1937-1948
document-box 2, folder 17
Adele Lubenewski (Luben)
1930-1945
document-box 2, folder 18
Isabelle Szneer and Adele Lubenewski
1930-1945
document-box 2, folder 19
Leopold Szneer with the Lubenewski (Luben) family
1946-1952
Unidentified individuals
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains photographs of individuals close to the Szneers but were not identifiable. This subseries is organized
into unidentified individuals and solo portraits of unknown individuals.
This subseries also contains a folder of photos of a specific unidentified woman featured prominently in the collection. This
woman was frequently photographed with the Szneers but remains unknown.
document-box 2, folder 20
Unidentified group photos
1940-1950
document-box 2, folder 21
Unidentified relative
1940-1950
document-box 2, folder 22
Unidentified family
1950-1960
document-box 2, folder 23
Unidentified individuals
1950-1960
Documents
Scope and Contents
Documents in this collection include passports, business licenses, and naturalization documents. The documents belonged to
Leopold Szneer, Isabelle Szneer, Schia Lubenewski (Luben), and Hinda Lubenewski (Luben).
This series includes an ID card for Schia Lubenewski (Luben), Isabelle Szneer's father, issued on November 23, 1951. The ID
card indicates that Schia Lubenewski was an "Etranger," or stateless. The card allowed Schia Lubenewski (Luben) to live and
work in Belgium.
This series includes a folder of Carte Professionelle pour Etranger établi en Belgique issued on October 1st, 1950, which
were business cards that allowed Schia Lubenewski (Luben) and Leopold Szneer to conduct business in Belgium as foreigners.
The business card belonging to Leopold Szneer allowed him to work as a "Marchand-tailleur", or tailor. The business card belonging
to Schia Lubenewski permitted him to sell garments.
This series also includes three passports. Passports belonging to Hinda Lubenewski (Luben) and Leopold Szneer are "Titre de
Voyage pour Etrangers,", which allowed them to navigate although they were not Belgian citizens. Leopold Szneer's passport
was issued on April 26, 1951, and stamps range from 1951 to 1953. Hinda Lubenewski's passport was issued on November 23, 1951,
and stamps range from 1951 to 1952 The passport belonging to Isabelle Szneer is Belgian; the passports contain stamps that
primarily indicate travel to and from Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with dates ranging from 1951 to
1952.
This series contains the Naturalization Documents for Leopold and Isabelle Szneer, granted on September 25th, 1959, which
allowed them to live in the United States legally.
document-box 2, folder 24
Identification Card - Schia Lubenewski (Luben)
1951
document-box 2, folder 25
Foreigner Business Card - Schia Lubenewski (Luben) and Leopold Szneer
1950
document-box 2, folder 26
Title of Trip - Leopold Szneer
1951
document-box 2, folder 27
Title of Trip - Hinda Lubenewski (Luben)
1951
document-box 2, folder 28
Belgian Passport - Isabelle Szneer
1951
document-box 2, folder 29
Certificate of Naturalization - Leopold and Isabelle Szneer
1959
Scrapbooks
Scope and Contents
This series contains a scrapbook and framed scrapbook page. To maintain the original order and the fragile state of the material,
the Archivist did not rehouse the scrapbook or frame.
The scrapbook mainly contains photos of the Lubenewski (Luben) family, including photos of Schia and Hinda Lubenewski when
they were a young couple. The photos in this scrapbook depict vacations, trips to Blankenberge, Belgium, and walks around
Brussels, Berlin. In addition, many of the photos were taken of the Szneers when they had moved to Los Angeles.
The framed photo collage documents the Szneer and Lubenewski family, with a yellow star patch in the center. A notable part
of this item is the yellow star patch, which Jewish people were forced to wear as an identifying mark. In addition, this collage
features a photo (bottom left) of Leopold and his family that is the most recent photo of the family in the collection, and
likely one of the last before they were separated.
custom-box 3, item 1
Isabelle Szneer's Scrapbook
1940-1960
custom-box 3, item 2
Framed Scrapbook Page
1938-1952
