PISTINER FAMILY PAPERS,

Transcription

1 PISTINER FAMILY PAPERS, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington, DC Tel. (202) e mail: reference@ushmm.org Descriptive summary Title: Pistiner family paper Dates: (bulk ) Accession number: Creator: Pistiner family (Berlin :Germany) Extent: 4 boxes (1.25 linear feet) Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC Abstract: Correspondence, travel documents, photographs, certificates, and printed materials related to the history of the family of Josef Pistiner, including his parents, Aron and Taube Pistiner, and brother, Max. Materials document the histories of Aron and Taube Pistiner s families in Galicia and Bukovina, the World War I service of Aron Pistiner, the marriage and move of Aron and Taube to Berlin, the birth and childhood of their two sons, their business as furriers there, and their eventual emigration from Berlin in 1939, their stay in China and Manchuria, and immigration to the United States. Also included are documents from Josef Pistiner s service in the U.S. Army during World War II, restitution files from the 1960s 1970s, and documents about a return trip to Berlin in Languages: German, English, Russian, Japanese, Hebrew. 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: Collection is available for use. Material may be protected by copyright. Please contact reference staff for further information. 1

2 Preferred citation: (Identification of item), Pistiner family papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC Acquisition information: The Pistiner family papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Arona Pistiner in Custodial history: Collected by Josef Pistiner, and inherited by his daughter, Arona. Related archival materials: There are two paintings (IRN# and IRN# ) that were owned by the Pistiner family that are also part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum s holdings. The following books were transferred from the collection to the library: Seder ha Hagadah le lel shimurim = Erzählung von dem Auszuge Israels aus Ägypten für die beiden ersten Pessachabende nach W. Heidenheim ; neu übersetzt Selig Bamberger. Frankfurt am Main (Rödelheim) : M. Lehrberger, Hagadah shel pesaḥ. = Die Pessach Haggadah / übersetzt und erklärt von Philipp Schlesinger und Josef Güns. Wien : Jos. Schlesinger, Das Deutsche Lied. [Berlin?] : Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes, 1942/43., Heft 1 (Volkslieder) and Heft 2 (Lieder der Bewegung) Alte deutsche Volksmärchen. [Berlin?] : Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes, [194?] Heft 10 (Der Däumling) Sefer Torah, neviʼim u khetuvim : meduyaḳ heṭev ʻal pi ha Masorah Berlin: Ḥevrat mefiḳe kitve ha ḳodesh be Briṭanya uvi sheʼar ha aratsot, Accruals: Accruals may have been received since this collection was first processed, see archives catalog at collections.ushmm.org for further information. Processing history: Adam Fielding and Brad Bauer, July 2016 Biographical note Aron Pistiner (aka Adolf Pistiner, ) was born on 1 December, 1892 in Wiznitz, Bukovina (Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine) to Jakob and Lea (née Wiener) Pistiner, originally from from Kamnitz. Taube Pistiner (née Rosenberg, ) was born 19 May 1894 in Krzyworownia (near Kosiv), Galicia to Jacob Majer and Sara Rosenberg. Aron worked as a furrier in Berlin, and Taube as a seamstress. Aron began his apprenticeship in Wiznitz in 1908, and moved to Berlin to continue his training in 1916, eventually earning the rank of master in The two were married Berlin on 29 March They had two sons, Max ( ) and Josef ( ). In 1934, Max moved to Palestine, and spent the remainder of his life in Israel. He was a soccer player and British police officer briefly before apprenticing to become a diamond cutter. He married Nehama Bloom (b. 1920) in While apprenticing to be diamond cutter, he and his wife lived in the United States from around He later owned a diamond cutting factory in Netanya, Israel. They had one son, Amikam Jacob (b. 1948) 2

3 The Pistiners left Berlin in June 1939, bound for Shanghai where they met up with Aron s cousin, Mendel Pistiner. Shortly after arriving there, however, they decided to relocate to Harbin, Manchuria, where there was a large number of Russian and Eastern European emigres. Aron pursued his work there as a furrier, while the family made further plans to immigrate to the United States by way of Japan. In 1940, Taube and Josef were able to leave Manchuria, stopping first in Japan before sailing from there in July 1940 for San Francisco. Aron was unable to join them due to a denial of his visa, but when that was granted the following year, he joined them, sailing from Japan in July Upon arrival in the United States, the family settled in New York, where Aron re established his career as a furrier. Aron died from lung cancer in Taube died from a stroke while in Netanya, Israel in Joseph attended New Utrecht Evening High School in , in order to obtain a high school diploma, while working during the day for a switchboard manufacturing company. He then began taking evening classes at City College of New York, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in After basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and training in engineering at Alfred University in New York, he was sent to the European Theatre. He was initially assigned to the 273 rd Infantry, 69 th Division as an automobile mechanic, but later transferred to the Intelligence Section where he worked as an interpreter and translator. After returning to the United States and discharge from the service in 1946, he resumed his education at City College, earning a bachelor s degree in electrical engineering in 1949, and a master s degree in engineering from Harvard University in He subsequently did further graduate work in electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins University ( ) and in applied mathematics at the University of Colorado ( ). From 1950 onward, he worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry, and patented several inventions that were used in spacecraft. He married Norma Greenstein (b. 1930) in 1950, and they had two children, Barry (b. 1952) and Arona (b. 1957). Joseph died on 8 June 2010 in Delray Beach, Florida. Scope and content of collection Correspondence, travel documents, photographs, certificates, and printed materials related to the history of the family of Josef Pistiner, including his parents, Aron and Taube Pistiner, and brother, Max. Materials document the histories of Aron and Taube Pistiner s families in Galicia and Bukovina, the World War I service of Aron Pistiner, the marriage and move of Aron and Taube to Berlin, the birth and childhood of their two sons, their business as furriers there, and their eventual emigration from Berlin in 1939, their stay in China and Manchuria, and immigration to the United States. Also included are documents from Josef Pistiner s service in the U.S. Army during World War II, restitution files from the 1960s 1970s, and documents about a return trip to Berlin in System of arrangement The Pistiner family papers are arranged alphabetically as 4 series. Series 1: Biographical materials, Series 2: Immigration, Series 3: Photographs, 1916 circa 1950 Series 4: Ephemera, Indexing terms Person: 3

4 Pistiner, Aron, Pistiner, Taube, Pistiner, Max, Pistiner, Josef, Corporate: United States. Army. Topical Subject: Jewish families Germany Berlin. Emigration & immigration United States Emigration and immigration Jewish Palestine. Jewish soldiers United States. Refugees, Jewish China Shanghai. Restitution and indemnification claims (1933 ) Germany. Geography: Berlin (Germany) Genre/Form: Photographs. 4 CONTAINER LIST Series 1: Biographical materials, Genealogy of Pistiner family (Familien Stammbuch), Israel, Statement of U.S. Jewish war veterans regarding Palestine, Postal first day covers, and certificate of trees planted in Josef Pistiner s honor. 1 3 Marriage certificates for Aron and Taube Pistiner, 1917 Pistiner, Aron: 1 4 Business (contracts, certificates, business cards), OS Employment (Arbeitsbuch), Financial, Germany, Passport, Austrian, Vital records (birth, death, military records), Pistiner, Josef: 1 9 Childhood: Certificates, letter from brother on bar mitzvah, Education, Germany, Education, United States, undergraduate, Education, United States, graduate, Military service, United States (certificates, correspondence, newsletters), Trip to Berlin for emigres, Pistiner, Max,

5 1 16 Pistiner, Moritz: postcards from Russian prisoner of war camp, 1917 Pistiner, Taube: 1 17 Birth certificates, Death, Employment (Arbeitsbuch, certificates), Passport, Austrian, Receipts, Restitution, Series 2: Immigration, Immigration and naturalization documents, United States, List of code words used in family correspondence, undated 2 8 Passports, Romanian (Aron, Taube, and Josef Pistiner), Postcard, Japan and Manchuria, circa Pre emigration documents, Germany, Residence books, Japanese occupied Manchuria (Manchukuo), Ship menus: S.S. Husimi Maru, 1939, June July 2 13 Ship menus and concert programs: M.S. Tatuta Maru, 1941, July 2 14 Telegrams (coded), 1940 Travel: 2 15 Europe to China, 1939, June July 2 16 Shanghai to Manchuria, 1939, August 3 1 Manchuria to United States, 1940, July August 3 2 Travel documents (Aron, Taube, Josef), Romanian, issued in Berlin, Shanghai, Tokyo, Series 3: Photographs, 1916 circa Family and friends, unidentified, 1916 circa Kolberg, Pomerania, Manchuria, circa Pistiner, Aron, circa Pistiner family, circa 1925 circa Pistiner family on ship, circa 1939 circa 1940 Pistiner, Josef: circa 1950s 3 10 Berlin, United States Army, circa With school class, Berlin, circa 193 circa Pistiner, Taube, circa 1920 circa 1945 Series 4: Ephemera, Horoscope (German), undated 4 1 Jüdische Winterhilfe der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin scroll, The Book of Esther,

6 4 2 Jüdische Winterhilfe der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin scroll, circa Rilke, Rainer Maria. Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, 1899 With inscription to Josef Pistiner, Includes enclosure United States Holocaust Memorial Museum brochures and certificate,