NOVEMBER BRANDEIS FAMILY PAPERS, 1939 1992 (Bulk, 1939 1946) Accession: 2012.143.11 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington, DC 20024 2126 Tel. (202) 479 9717 e mail: reference@ushmm.org Descriptive summary Title: November Brandeis family papers Dates: 1939 1992 (Bulk, 1939 1946) Accession number: 2012.143.11 Creator: November, Mendel Extent: 1 box Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024 2126 Abstract: Correspondence, identification documents, immigration forms, and related documentation concerning the family of Mendel and Lea Brandel (Bronka) November, their exile in the Soviet Union during World War II, their correspondence with Mrs. November s family in Poland during the German occupation, and their subsequent return to Poland after the war and immigration to Israel. Languages: Polish, German, Russian, Hebrew, English Administrative Information Access: Collection is open for use, but is stored offsite. Please contact the Reference Desk more than seven days prior to visit in order to request access. Reproduction and use: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum does not own copyright to this material. Preferred citation: (Identification of item), November Brandeis Family papers (Acc.# 2012.143.11), United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
Acquisition information: Purchased, Kedem Public Auction House, Ltd., March 2011. Abraham and Ruth Goldfarb Family Acquisitions Fund. Accruals: Accruals may have been received since this collection was first processed, see archives catalog at collections.ushmm.org for further information. Processing history: Processed by Brad Bauer, 2012. Biographical note Mendel November was born January 15, 1915, Košice, present day Slovakia. His wife, Lea Brandel, also known as Bronka (née Brandeis), was originally from Dukla, a village approximately 70 kilometers southwest of Przemyśl, in Poland. The Novembers left Poland to flee to the Soviet Union, either prior to or during the German invasion, settling in Central Asia (Jambul, Kazakhstan). While in the Soviet Union, Mendel November worked as an electrician in a liquor distillery in Kazakhstan, and was mobilized to fight in the Red Army in the latter stages of the war. Following the war, the Novembers returned to Poland with their son Isak, settling in Łódż, and applied for a visa to immigrate to Israel, which they were eventually able to do around 1950. Scope and content of collection The bulk of the correspondence and documents relate to the experiences of Mendel November and his wife, Lea Brandel (Bronka). The documents in this collection are arranged according to type and origin. One series of correspondence consists of postcards and letters that the family received from Bronka s mother Adela, often with greetings from Hinda Findling and Regina Brandeis as well, all of whom remained in Dukla, after the German occupation of that region. Correspondence from the Brandeis family stopped in mid 1941, although Bronka s brother Aron (Abraham?) sent several postcards written in Russian, from Berlin and Lublin in 1945, toward the end of World War II. A separate set of correspondence contains letters sent to and from Henry Hirschberg, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who was related to the Brandeis family through marriage. Hirschberg, in a notarized statement of 1946, attested that my wife Rachel G. Hirschberg née Findling was the late mother of of Lea Brandel November (née Brandeis) and Abraham Brandeis, and that she was a sister of Mrs. Ides Brandeis, née Findling, presumably Adela Brandeis. Correspondence from the Hirschberg family (Henry, wife Gisela, son Julius Harris) includes cards seeking to establish contact apparently unsuccessfully with Adela Brandeis and her family in Poland after the war. Correspondence from other friends and family members is filed separately from the Hirschberg and Brandeis correspondence. The latter group of documents pertain to the Novembers experiences in the Soviet Union during the war, their return to Poland in 1946, and their attempts to emigrate after that. Included are letters attesting to Mendel November s employment with various firms in the Soviet Union, documents pertaining to the search for any living Brandeis family members in Poland, and documents from the family s early years in Israel during the 1950s. System of arrangement
The correspondence files are arranged in three series: Brandeis Family correspondence, Hirschberg Family correspondence, and Other correspondence. A subsequent series titled Biographical files contains identification and immigration documents, and related items that can be used to establish places where the November family lived and worked, and a chronology of their lives. Each of these series is arranged in chronological order. Indexing terms Jews Poland Krosno (Województwo Podkarpackie) Jews, Polish Soviet Union. Poland History Occupation, 1939 1945. Brandeis, Adela November, Lea Brandel November, Mendel Zhambyl (Zhambyl oblysy, Kazakhstan)
CONTAINER LIST Brandeis Family Correspondence, Adela Brandeis to Mendel November, 1940 1941 1 1 1940, May 1 2 1940, September 1 3 1940, November (includes letter from Regina Brandeis) 1 4 1940, December 1 5 1941, January 1 6 1941, February 1 7 1941, March 1 8 1941, April May (includes letter from Regina Brandeis) Hirschberg Family Correspondence, 1939 1956 1 9 Hinda Findling and Adela Brandeis to Henry Hirschberg, 1939 1941 1 10 Henry and Gisela Hirschberg to Adela Brandeis, 1945 1 11 Julius Harris to Adela Brandeis, 1945 1 12 Bronka November to Henry Hirschberg, 1946 1 13 Bronka November to Henry Hirschberg, 1949 1 14 Henry and Gisela Hirschberg to Mendel and Bronka November, 1956 and undated Other correspondence 1 15 Mendel November to Bronka November, 1944 1 16 Letters to November family from others (Josef Turik, Chaim Diner, and others), 1945 46 1 17 American Joint Distribution Committee, letter inquiring about Adela Brandeis, 1945 Biographical files 1 18 Employment history of Mendel November, 1939 1948 1 19 Affidavit, Henry Hirschberg, attesting to relationship with members of Brandeis family, 1946 1 20 List of contents of CARE packages sent to November family, 1946 1 21 Polish documents concerning repatriation, 1946 1947 1 22 Embassy of Israel, Warsaw, 1949 1 23 Immigration document, Israel, for Mendel November, 1950 1 24 Work and residency documents, for Mendel November, Israel, 1950 1956 1 25 Israeli Defense Force, conscription of Mendel November, 1951 1 26 American Embassy, Tel Aviv, visa application paperwork, 1958 1 27 Receipt for reparations payment to Lea B. November, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Tel Aviv, 1983 1 28 Photographs of family tombstones in Poland, handwritten list of names of those who died during Holocaust, 1992 and undated
1 29 Empty envelopes from correspondence