Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers 1988.1045
Finding aid prepared by Judith Janec
Tauber Holocaust Library
JFCS Holocaust Center
2245 Post Street
San Francisco, CA, 94115
415-449-3717
tauberholocaustlibrary@jfcs.org
Title: Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers
Identifier/Call Number: 1988.1045
Contributing Institution:
Tauber Holocaust Library
Language of Material:
German
Container: Archives Box 01
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder(s)
Date: 1940-1943, 1962
Language of Materials note: Materials are in German. English translations of some items are available.
Abstract: The collection is comprised of certificates, postcards, and copies of letters belonging to Dr. Walter Feuereisen Chief Medical
Officer of the Jewish Kultusgemeinde in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Document dates range from 1940-1943. Also included are mimeographed
notices dated 1962, confirming dates and times of deporation of Dr. Feueureisen and his wife Marianne, and another family,
the Altensteins. The collection documents the experiences of Dr. Feuereisen, his family and friends during the Nazi occupation
of Czechoslovakia, their deportation and ultimate fate.
Creator:
Feuereisen, Walter, Dr.
There are no restrictions to use for this collection.
1988.1045 - Dr. Walter Feuereisen papers, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California
Conditions Governing Access note
There are no restrictions to access to this collection.
According to the donor, the letters written by Dr. Feuereisen were left with the janitor of the building in which he lived,
along with other letters, and were recovered to Mr. Fenner. The letters in this collection are copies; originals are in the
Weiner Collection, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Dr. Walter Feuereisen was born on May 11, 1902 and died in Auschwitz sometime after his transport there on October 23, 1944.
During the years of the Holocaust, Dr. Feuereisen was a physician living in Prague, Czechoslovakia and involved in the Judische
Kultugemeinde. His wife Marianne was also a physician.
Dr. Feuereisen's mother and other family lived in Brno. These family members were deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin) on
March 23, 1942. Drs. Feuereisen were considered vital to the community and lived in Prague until their deportation to Theresienstadt
on July 8, 1943. All family members were deported to Auschwitz in late October 1944, where they perished.
The collection documents the experiences of Dr. Walter Feueresein, a Jewish physician living in Prague, Czechoslovakia during
the years of the Holocaust. It comprises postcards, certificates, and letters written during 1941-1943.
The bulk of the collection lies in three long, descriptive letters written by Dr. Feuereisen to his brother, Erwin Fenner,
in which he details the conditions under which Jews lived in occupied Prague. These heartfelt letters describe the hardships
endured, and the fear of deportation and uncertainty under which Jews struggled. He describes raids in which his father was
captured, ongoing transports on which family and close friends are sent to unknown locations, and the painful separation of
family members. The last letter was written on April 7, 1943; Dr. Feuereisen and his wife Marianne were deported in July 1943.
The collection also includes postcards written by friends to Dr. Feuereisen from the Lodz ghetto and Theresienstadt (Terezin)
concentration camp, and several certificates of transit issued to Dr. Feuereisen, allowing him to travel through the city
in order to fulfill his work obligations. Two mimeographed copies sent to Erwin Fenner in 1962 from the Council of Jewish
Religious Communities in Bohemia and Moravia document the deportation to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz of Dr. Feuereisen
and his wife, and of family members Viktor, Elizabeth, Anna and Felix Altenstein.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Fenner, Erwin
Jüdische Kultusgemeinde Prag.
Mauthausen (Concentration camp).
Theresienstadt (Concentration camp).
Brno (Czech Republic) -- History -- 20th century
Certificates -- Prague
Correspondence
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Lodz
Jewish ghettos -- Lodz
Jewish physicians -- Czechoslovakia
Jews -- Persecutions -- Poland -- Lodz
Jews, Prague
Lodz (Poland)
Postcards -- Lodz
Prague (Czech Republic) -- Social life
Dr. Walter Feuereisen postcards 1941-1943
Language of Material:
German
Postcard from Lise Shansky, Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto, 1941 February 4
Language of Material:
German
Postcard from Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto, 1943 February 20
Language of Material:
German
Dr. Walter Feuereisen certificates 1940-1943
Language of Material:
German