Lasus family papers, 1938-1965

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Summary

Title:
Lasus family papers
Dates:
1938-1965
Creators:
Lasus family
Abstract:
The Lasus family papers document the couple’s experiences during the Holocaust, including Mr. Lasus’s imprisonment in Dachau in 1938, the couple’s residence in Shanghai from 1939-1948, and their eventual emigration to the United States. The Lasus Family papers provide insight into the experiences of those German and Austrian Jews who were forced to flee from Germany and Austria during Hitler’s Third Reich and who spent the war years in Shanghai, China.
Containers:
Folder: Archives Box 12
Extent:
3.0 Folder(s)
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Item] [date], Lasus family papers. 2005-0007, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Background

Scope and content:

The collection is comprised of documents and artifacts pertaining to the Lasus’s residency in Shanghai during World War II, and their subsequent emigration to the United States. Documents are in English, German, French and Chinese. Also included is a memoir, written in German, by Mr. Lasus, Episode Shanghai. This collection documents the experience of those German and Austrian Jews who fled to Shanghai. Papers include certificates, identification cards, travel passes and other documents issued to Shanghai residents. Photographs, letter and documents reflect the experiences of Mr. and Mrs. Lasus during the post-war emigration process. Of particular interest is a letter written by Mr. Lasus to his sister and brother-in-law recounting his trans-Atlantic voyage from Ellis Island to Naples, Italy aboard a United States army transport, the General Steward.

Biographical / historical:

Denied admittance to most countries, thousands of German and Austrian Jews who fled Hitler's Third Reich found their way to Shanghai, where visas and passports were not required until the Japanese occupation. After 1941, the occupying Nazi-aligned Japanese forced the Jewish refugees in Shanghai into the Hong Kew ghetto.

Mr. Erich Lasus and Mrs. Mathilde Lasus were Austrian Jews who fled Nazi-occupied Austria for Shanghai, China in May 1939, where they lived until 1948.

Documents indicate that Mr. Lasus was imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp from November 10, 1938 (immediately after the Kristallnacht pogrom) until February 27, 1939. In May 1939, the Lasuses left for Shanghai. Mr. and Mrs. Lasus opened a dress shop in Shanghai in 1943.

Mr. and Mrs. Lasus left Shanghai and traveled by boat to Ellis Island in February and March 1949, where they were interned before being transported to Naples, Italy. They remained in Italy until 1951, when they were able to emigrate to the United States.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged in chronological order; items that are undated follow those that are dated.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Judith Janec
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-09-06T14:00-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions to access for this collection.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions to use for this collection.

Preferred citation:

[Item] [date], Lasus family papers. 2005-0007, Tauber Holocaust Library - JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Location of this collection:
JFCS Holocaust Center
2245 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115, US
Contact:
(415) 449-3717
HolocaustCenter@jfcs.org
Website