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Elie and Stella Reich Tennenbaum papers, 1920-1984.
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Collection Overview
Title:
Elie and Stella Reich Tennenbaum papers, 1920-1984Creator/Contributor:
Tennenbaum, Elie Jacques, 1917-1999, creatorCreator/Contributor:
Tennenbaum, Stella Reich, 1916-2004Creator/Contributor:
Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2009.11.Creator/Contributor:
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and LifeCreator/Contributor:
Online Archive of CaliforniaAbstract:
The collection includes Elie and Stella Tennenbaum's personal and professional documents, correspondence, ephemera, and photographs.
The personal documents in the collection, as well as the correspondence from Europe, China and the United States, reveal the
transient life of Jewish refugees during World War II and document the sometimes desperate attempts at movement and migration.
The professional documents provide a detailed picture of Elie Tennenbaum's attempts to complete his medical education in France
and Shanghai and to find work in the United States. Most of the correspondence in the collection is dated in the 1940s, but
some is from the 1930s. The collection includes a medical school diploma issued by Aurora University in Shanghai to Stella
Reich(ova) in 1946. In addition, the collection includes some ephemera relating to the Jewish refugee community in Shanghai.
Date:
1920 (issued)Subject:
n-us-caTennenbaum, Elie Jacques -- 1917-1999 -- Archives
Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center.
Jewish refugees -- China -- Shanghai
Jews -- China -- Shanghai
Jews -- Medicine -- China
Shanghai (China) -- Emigration and immigration
Note:
Formerly: Judah L. Magnes Museum Collection Number 2009.11.
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.
Elie and Stella Reich Tennenbaum papers, BANC MSS 2010/654, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Elie Jacques Tennenbaum was born in Krakow in 1917 to Leon Tennenbaum and Rose Stern. At the age of 22, driven by the restrictions
on Jews studying medicine in Poland, Elie left his home for France and entered medical school. His parents remained in Poland
and perished in the Holocaust. With the Nazi occupation of Paris, Elie was forced to flee France, securing passage from Marseilles
to Shanghai, China in 1939. In Shanghai, Elie continued his medical studies at Aurora University, which was run by the Jesuits,
and lived in a house in Hongkui owned by Mr. Rubin Goldberg. Elie Tennebaum received his medical degree in 1945 and worked
in the Shanghai Refugee Hospital. Elie met Stella Reich in medical school in Shanghai. Stella Reich (Reichova) was born in
1916 in Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia into a successful merchant family. She started medical school at the German University
in Prague but was forced to discontinue her studies after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. Stella's sister left Czechoslovakia
for England and unsuccessful attempts were made to secure passage to England for Stella. Stella's parents eventually bought
her a ticket on the SS Conte Rosso, a ship sponsored by the American Joint Distribution Committee which carried refugees from
Italy to Shanghai monthly. She arrived in Shanghai in Spring of 1940 and entered Aurora University as a medical student in
1943. After the war, Stella was able to get into the United States on the Czech quota. Elie came to the United States in 1948
on a student visa. Stella found work with the Southern Pacific Hospital in San Francisco. Elie found an intership with St.
Mary's. Stella passed her state boards in 1978 at the age of 63 and worked as a physician for the city of San Francisco for
many years. Elie opened a private practice in the Phelan building on Market Street and was on staff at Mt. Zion for over 30
years. Elie and Stella had two children. Elie Tennebaum died in 1999 and Stella died in 2004.
In English, Polish, Chinese, French, and Czech.
Type:
Photographs.Diplomas.
Ephemera.
Correspondence.
Physical Description:
1 carton, 1 box, and 1 oversize folder (1.2 linear feet)
Language:
mul
English
pol
Chinese
French
cze
Origin:
CaliforniaCopyright Note:
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.