Guide to the Hanni Sondheimer Vogelweid Collection,
1941-2003
Special Collections & Archives
Oviatt Library
California State
University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330
URL: http://library.csun.edu/SCA
Email: oviattsca@csun.edu
Phone: (818) 677-2832
Fax: (818) 677-2589
© Copyright 2012 Special Collections & Archives. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Collection Title: Hanni Sondheimer Vogelweid
Collection
Dates: 1941-2003
Bulk Dates: 1941-1946
Identification: OCH/HLS
Creator:
Vogelweid, Hanni Sondheimer, 1923-2006
Physical Description: 0.21
linear feet
Language of Materials:
English
Chinese
German
Repository:
Old China Hands Archives
Abstract: Hanni Sondheimer Vogelweid was born on
October 5, 1923, in Berlin, Germany. Her family was living in Lithuania when World War
II began, and fled to Japan in an attempt to emigrate to America where they had
relatives. This did not work out, and the family was forced to move to Shanghai, as they
had become officially stateless upon leaving Lithuania. Vogelweid lived in Shanghai from
1941 to 1946, and during the war was forced to live in the Hongkew ghetto with other
Jewish refugees. The collection consists of personal documents Vogelweid used when she
lived in Shanghai, including correspondence, vital records, personal identification
documents, and some publications.
Biographical Information:
Hanni Sondheimer Vogelweid was born on October 5, 1923, in Berlin, Germany, to Moritz
and Setty Sondheimer. The family moved from Germany to Estonia to do business, and later
settled in Kaunas, Lithuania. At the start of World War II, the family, who was Jewish,
began to look for a way out of Lithuania, as anti-semitism was rising in Eastern Europe.
They were issued a visa to Japan by Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese vice consul in
Lithuania credited with saving thousands of Jews by providing transit visas, and left
Lithuania in February of 1941 with money sent from American relatives.
They traveled to Yokohama, Japan, where they stayed for six months waiting for their
American visa paperwork. At that point their transit visas had expired, and they were
forced to leave Japan for Shanghai, which did not require any paperwork. The
Sondheimers, who were now considered stateless, were able to acquire a room in Shanghai
with the money they had left over from the planned move to America, and they stayed
until 1943. They were then forced to move into the Hongkew ghetto, formally known as the
Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, where the Japanese forced 20,000 Jewish and
other refugees during the war. As the war went on and the family needed money, Vogelweid
and her younger brother got jobs working in a Chinese weaving factory.
After the war, Vogelweid worked for the US Army as a waitress and a switchboard
operator. She then emigrated to the United States in 1946, after marrying Alfred Marion
Gade, a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. They had one daughter, but the marriage ended
soon after, and she later married Lloyd Vogelweid.
Access Terms
This Collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Genre/Form of Material:
Paper records
Publications
Administrative Information
Processing Information:
Tim Kaufler, 2012
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s)
of this collection has not been transferred to California State University,
Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or
reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of
the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Related Materials:
Scope and Contents
The Hanni Sondheimer Vogelweid Collection primarily consists of Vogelweid's
personal documents dated between 1941 and 1946, when she lived in Shanghai. It includes
personal correspondence, identification documents, her immunization certificate,
marriage certificates, passport affidavits, and a visa. The collection also contains
publications related to the Old China Hand experience, including
Jewish World Review, The Rickshaw Express, and the
Shanghai Herald. The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder
title.
Collection Contents
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence: Red Cross, Immunization, and U.S. Army
Command,
September 1942-September 1946
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence: Western Union Telegrams,
December 1946
Box 1, Folder 3
"From Shanghai to Vegas," Gluckman, Ron,
June 1999
Box 1, Folder 4
Identification Certificates,
September 1941-July 1945
Box 1, Folder 5
Identification Certificates and Armband,
December 1941
Box 1, Folder 6
Immunization Certificates,
1946
Box 1, Folder 7
Jewish World Review,
February 1998
Box 1, Folder 8
Los Angeles Times,
November 1981-November 2002
Box 1, Folder 9
Marriage Certificates,
September 1946
Box 1, Folder 11
Old China Hands Reunion,
December 1995
Box 1, Folder 12
Publications: Old Shanghai Articles,
1986-2010
Box 1, Folder 13
Old China Hands Reunion "The Legacy Continues",
September 1996
Box 1, Folder 14
Passport Affidavits,
December 1946
Box 1, Folder 15
The Rickshaw Express Web,
September 2001
Box 1, Folder 16
The Rickshaw Express Web,
March 2002
Box 1, Folder 17
The Rickshaw Express Web,
April 2002
Box 1, Folder 18
San Diego Jewish Journal,
June 2003
Box 1, Folder 19
The Scribe,
December 1998
Box 1, Folder 20
Shanghai: A City for Jews in China,
March 2002
Box 1, Folder 23
Visa and Census Forms,
1941
Box 1, Folder 24
Women Rescuers Testimonial,
March 2002
Box 1, Folder 25
Work Recommendations and Permit,
January 1944-August 1946
