United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives Finding Aid RG-10 Small Collections Acc. 1989.232, 1989.306, 1995.A.322, 2004.96 Title: Jill Pauly Papers, ca. 1900-1947. Extent: 2 boxes. Provenance: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum received this collection in three parts in 1989, 1995, and 2004. Restrictions on access: No restrictions on access. Restrictions on use: No restrictions on use. Organization and arrangement: Arrangement is in two series. Series 1: Documents and letters. Series 2: Photographs. Language: German and English. Preferred citation: Standard citation for U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives Biographical/historical note: Gisela Berg (now Jill Pauly) is the daughter of Joseph and Klara (Meyer) Berg. She was born May 1, 1933 and grew up in the small farming community of Lechenich, Germany (near Cologne), where her father earned his living as a cattle dealer. The Berg family had lived in that area since the 1600s. Gisela has one older sibling, Inge (b. 1929, now Inge Katzenstein). After the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, the family hid in Cologne. The following week, Gisela's father, along with his brother, George, and cousin, Ernest, fled to Holland to escape arrest. However, they were imprisoned upon their arrival for illegal entry. Klara's brother, Herman Meyer, who had been living in Holland, contacted the head of the Jewish community in Rotterdam and hired an attorney to secure their permission to remain in The Netherlands. After this experience, the family decided to look for another country of refuge. A cousin named Rosel (Marx) Berg had a close relative who had previously immigrated to England, where he had become a successful businessman. Rosel called him daily from Cologne, asking him to help the family get out of Germany. He, in turn, asked his younger brother, Herman Strauss who worked for a prestigious law firm in Kenya, to help secure visas for the Berg family. Herman Strauss paid the mandatory 50 pounds per person for entry papers to Kenya. After nine months in an internment camp, Joseph, Ernest and George were finally released so that they could leave for Kenya. They were the first members of the Berg family to arrive and rented a large house in Nairobi. That June they were joined by more than a dozen members of the extended family, including Klara, Gisela, Inge, Clara and Marcus Berg (Josef's parents), and Bertha Meyer (Klara's mother). This group sailed from Genoa, Italy to Mombasa, Kenya on board the SS Usambara. In all, seventeen
family members fled Nazi Germany for Kenya, the youngest of whom, Egon (the son of Karl and Rosel Berg), was only eighteen months old. After war broke out in September 1939, the British government arrested all adult male foreign nationals, including Joseph Berg and his brothers. They were released a week later on condition that they work on the farms of British citizens conscripted for war service. Throughout the war, the Bergs had the status of enemy aliens and could leave their homes only with the permission of a police commissioner. In the fall of 1939, the Bergs purchased a 375-acre farm in Limuru and an additional 125 acres in Maguga. The large family lived in two farmhouses about a mile apart. Each day Joseph commuted to the Maguga farm, stopping to perform his mandatory farm work on a third farm midway between his own. After the German invasion of The Netherlands in May 1940, the Dutch branch of the family, including Herman Meyer, Adolf and Erna Baum and their daughter Hannah, also fled to Kenya aboard the last ship out of the country. Another member was added to the family group with the birth of Philip Berg (the son of Ernest and Else Berg) in 1942. Gisela and her family remained in Kenya for eight years, immigrating to the United States in 1947. Scope and content note: These papers consist of identification cards, registration certificates, and passports issued to the members of the Pauly and Berg families in Germany, individual photographs of the Berg family, and a photograph album belonging to Sol Meyer [relative of Jill Pauly] that documented his experiences during the time period surrounding the Holocaust. Inventory Box 1 Series 1: Documents and letters. 1. Folder 1: Identification card for Gisela (Jill) Berg (Pauly). Issued by the Chief of police in Köln, Germany, 1939 Jan. 25. In German. 2. Folder 1: Exit visas (three) issued to members of the Berg family in preparation for their departure from Germany issued by the chief of Police, Köln, Germany, 1939 January 24. In German. 3. Folder 1: Passenger ticket issued by Deutsche Afrika-Linien, passenger ticket number 42315 issued to Frau Lara Berg and her children, Inge and Gisela, 1939. In German. 4. Folder 1: Certificates of registration (three) issued by the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. Three certificates of registration numbers 1037, 1038, and 1042 issued to Joseph Berg II, Klara Berg, and Klara Berg. In English. 5. Folder 1: Letter of recommendation issued by the Passport Control Office, Nairobi, Kenya for Joseph Berg II and his wife, Klara in preparation for immigration to the United States. Photographs of the bearers are attached, 1946 July 19. In English.
6. Folder 1: Travel control landing card issued to Mr. and Mrs. Berg and Inge and Gisela, 1947 Feb. 27. In English. 7. Folder 2: Red Cross postal message sent by Klara Berg to Max and Betty Davids and returned with a message from them. Message sent by Klara Berg from Nairobi, Kenya, to her brother, Max Davids and his wife, Betty, in Theresienstadt. Returned with a note dated July 20, 1942, stating that Max and Betty Davids are healthy and have been moved to Theresienstadt with Valentin, Hedwig, Moritz, and Ida. This was the last communication with them before they perished, 1941 Nov. 21. In German. 8. Folder 2: Program from Nairobi Hebrew congregation. Guide for the intercession service, 1945 Oct. 18. In English. 9. Folder 2: Letter from Max Davids (Klara Berg s brother) who lived in Crefeld with his wife, Betty. In German. 10. Folder 2: Letter to Berg family in Kenya from Joseph, Carl, Gustav, and Sarah Schwarz on the death of their sister, Bertha Meyer, who fled to Kenya and died a natural death. In German. 11. Folder 2: Letter from Max and Betty Davids to Berg family in Kenya, 1940 Jan. 20. In German. 12. Folder 3: 2 postcards, ca. 1939. In German. 13. Folder 3: Lists of articles packed for emigration and certified by police officer, n.d. In German. 14. Folder 4: Various documents and declarations concerning living in Germany and emigration. In German. 15. Folder 4: Certificate of registration from the colony and protectorate of Kenya, no. 1035, for Josef Berg, 1943. In English. 16. Folder 4: Certificate of registration from the colony and protectorate of Kenya, no. 1036, for Sara Berg, 1943. In English. 17. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Reisepass for Hugo Pauly, 1936 July 6. In German. 18. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Reisepass for Selma Pauly, 1936 July 6. In German. 19. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Reisepass for Berta Meyer geb. Shwartz verwitw, 1936 Dec. 23. In German. 20. Folder 4: Geburtsurkunde, (birth certificate), 1938. In German.
21. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Kennkarte for Sara Klara Berg, 1939 Mar. 17. In German. 22. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Kennkarte for Josef Israel Berg, 1939. In German. 23. Folder 4: Deutsches Reich Kennkarte for Sara Berg, 1939. In German. Series 2: Photographs 24. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Eilendorf, suburb of Aachen, Germany, of Levy Herz and Caroline Menken Herz, cousin to Anne Frank s relative mentioned in #2 above. 25. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Lueksheim, Germany of Sarah Schwarz who perished during the Holocaust, ca. 1940-1944. 26. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Lueksheim, Germany of Carl Schwarz, ca.1940. 27. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Lueksheim, Germany, of Joseph Schwarz, ca. 1940. 28. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Lueksheim, Germany, of Gustav Schwarz, ca. 1940. 29. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Cologne, Germany of Bertha (Schwarz) Meyer, taken for use in a passport. Bertha Meyer fled to Kenya, where she died a natural death, ca. 1939. 30. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Cologne, Germany of Klara Meyer Berg and her daughters, Inge and Jill. Photograph taken while their husband/father was interned in a camp in Holland, 1939 June. 31. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Lechenich, Germany, 1937. Black and white photoprint of Jill Berg (Pauly.) Photograph was defaced as it hung in the Pauly home on Kristallnacht. 32. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Cologne, Germany, April 1939. Black and white photograph of Jill Berg (Pauly) and her friend, Ilsyen. Jill had accompanied Ilsyen to the photographers studio to assuage her fears at having her passport photograph taken, Ilsyen later disappeared.
33. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w from Limuru Farm, Nairobi, Kenya, 1942. Black and white photograph of members of the extended Berg family who fled to Kenya. 34. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w taken near Cologne, Germany, ca. 1920s. Black and white photograph of Max Berg, grandfather of Inge (Berg) Katzenstein and Jill Berg (Pauly). Max was a cattle dealer and businessman. 35. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w of Jonas Berg, brother of Max Berg, n.d. 36. Folder 5: 1 photoprint : b&w. Photograph of Joseph and George Berg. Joseph Berg was the father of Inge and Jill Berg, ca. 1910. 37. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w. Photograph taken in Crefeld, Germany of Klara (Davids) Berg, wife of Max and mother of Joseph and George, ca. 1900. 38. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w. Photograph taken in Crefeld, Germany, of Betty Davids ca. 1900. 39. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w. Photograph taken in Crefeld, Germany, of Max Davids (ca. 1930s) 40. Folder 5: 2 photoprints: b&w. Photograph taken in Crefeld, Germany, of Gertie Davids, who died of peritonitis as a young woman. Gertie was the daughter of Max and Betty Davids, ca. 1915-1920s. 41. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w. Photograph taken of Max and Betty David s son, Kurt, who died of influenza, ca. 1916. 42. Folder 5: 1 photoprint: b&w. Photograph of the gravestone of Caroline (Falkenstein) Davids (1842-1909). She was the mother of Klara (Davids) Berg, who survived the Holocaust. Her other children, Max, Valentin, and Moritz perished. 43. Folder 5: 1 photoprint : b&w. Photograph of the gravestone of Gertie Davids, who died in 1924, n.d. Box 2 44. Framed photographs (2) in common frame. The photographs are of Inge Berg (Katzenstein) and her sister Jill Berg Pauly. Photograph of Jill defaced with scissor marks as a result of vandalism of Berg home on Kristallnacht, 1938. 45. 1 photograph album that belonged to Sol Meyer, a relative of Jill Pauly.