LEVY FAMILY PAPERS, 1887-1981 2015.415.1 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: Levy family papers Dates: 1887-1981 [bulk 1924-1969] Accession number: 2015.415.1 Creator: Levy family (Saarlouis :Germany) Extent: 2 linear feet (2 boxes; 2 oversize box; 3 oversize folders) Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126 Abstract: The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of the Levy family of Saarlouis (present day Saarlouis, Germany). Included are identification papers; birth, marriage, and death certificates; immigration and travel documents; and family books that document the movements and lives of Alfred, his wife Meta (née Mayer), and their children Marlyse and Theo as they encountered increasing Nazi persecution in the pre-war and wartime years in the French cities of Saarlouis, Saarbrücken, Thionville, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, as well as Luxembourg. Also included are photographs depicting Alfred Levy as a soldier in World War I and a Supreme Court justice in Saarlouis and Saarbrücken; the Levy family in Luxembourg and Villefranche-de-Rouergue; the Mayer family; the inauguration of a new synagogue in Saarbrücken; and the World Jewish Congress meeting in Montreux, Switzerland. Languages: French, German, 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: Collection is available for use. Material may be protected by copyright. Please contact reference staff for further information. 1
Preferred citation: (Identification of item), Levy family papers (2015.415.1), United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC Acquisition information: The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Marlyse Kennedy in 2015. An accretion was donated in 2016. Related archival materials: Levy, Mayer and Scherman Family Collection, AR 25634, Leo Baeck Institute. 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, April 2017 Biographical note Alfred Levy (1888-1962) was born on 15 November 1888 in the Fraulautern neighborhood of Saarlouis (present day Saarlouis, Germany) to Daniel and Joséphine (née Schmitt) Levy. He had one sister, Julie. Alfred was a veteran of World War I, and studied law afterwards. Meta Mayer Levy (born Meta Eve Mayer, 1891-1969) was born on 1 January 1891 in Saarlouis to Eduard (b. 1857) and Auguste (née Herz) Mayer. She had two sisters, Ella (1888-1918) and Olga (later Olga Scherman,b. 1893-1980). Ella died in 1918 of the Spanish Flu. Olga married Richard Scherman (1897-1987). They had a son named Rolf (b. 1928) and immigrated to the United States. Alfred and Meta married in 1924 in Saarlouis. Their daughter Marlyse (born Mary Louise Levy; later Marlyse Kennedy) was born in 1925, and their son Theo (1932-1998) was born in 1932. The family lived in Saarlouis where Alfred was a judge and Meta worked with her family s shoe store business. After the citizens voted in 1935 for independent Saarland to rejoin Germany, the Levys decided to immigrate to Luxembourg later that year to flee the growing Nazi presence. That same year, Marlyse began attending school in Thionville, France. After Luxembourg was occupied by Germany in May 1940, the Levys were deported to Vichy France in December 1940. They lived in Villefranche-de- Rouergue, surviving with financial assistance from relatives since Alfred was not able to find work. In 1943, the family was warned by the Resistance that Alfred was to be arrested. He went into hiding on a farm, but was later arrested trying to visit the family. He was soon released with assistance from the Resistance. The family went into hiding again, with Alfred on the farm, Meta and Marlyse at a nursing home run by nuns, and Theo with his math teacher. The area was liberated in fall 1944, and the family moved to Saarbrücken by 1946. Alfred became a judge again, and was active in assisting Jews seeking restitution. Marlyse immigrated to the United States via the SS Liberte in 1952. She married John Kennedy and had a career as an anesthesiologist. Her brother Theo remained in Saarbrücken. Marlyse s cousin, Marcel Siesel, was in the Resistance and was murdered by the Nazis. Scope and content of collection The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of the Levy family of Saarlouis (present day Saarlouis, Germany). Included are identification papers; birth, marriage, and death certificates; immigration and travel documents; and family books that document the movements and lives of Alfred, his wife Meta (née Mayer), and their children Marlyse and Theo as they encountered increasing Nazi persecution in the pre-war and wartime years in the French cities of Saarlouis, Saarbrücken, Thionville, 2
Villefranche-de-Rouergue, as well as Luxembourg. Also included are photographs depicting Alfred Levy as a soldier in World War I and a Supreme Court justice in Saarlouis and Saarbrücken; the Levy family in Luxembourg and Villefranche-de-Rouergue; the Mayer family; the inauguration of a new synagogue in Saarbrücken; and the World Jewish Congress meeting in Montreux, Switzerland. System of arrangement The collection is arranged as two series: Series 1: Biographical materials, 1887-1981 and undated Series 2: Photographs, circa 1895-circa 1952 and undated Series are arranged alphabetically, and documents are arranged chronologically. Indexing terms Person: Levy, Alfred, 1888-1962. Levy, Meta Mayer, 1891-1969. Kennedy, Marie-Louise. Levy, Theo, 1932-1998. Topical Subject: Jewish families--france. Holocaust Jewish (1939-1945)--France. Refugees, Jewish--France. Synagogues. World Jewish Congress. World War, 1914-1918--Jewish participation. Emigration and immigration--france. World War, 1939-1945--Deportations. Geography: Saarbru cken (Germany) Luxembourg (Luxembourg) Thionville (Moselle, France) Saarlouis (Germany) Genre/Form: Photographs. CONTAINER LIST Series 1: Biographical materials, 1887-1981 and undated Box Folder Title 1 1 Clippings, 1962-1973 1 2 Immigration and travel documents, 1935-1950 Levy, Alfred: 1 3 Identification papers, 1924-1981 1 4 Letter from Schlomo and Ruth Ruelf, 1959 3
1 5 Passport, German, 1940 1 6 Postcard from Marlyse Levy, 1932 1 7 Professional papers, 1919-1927 1 8 Levy, Alfred and Meta Mayer Levy: Ketubah and marriage certificates, 1924; 1937 1 9 Levy family, 1887-1977 and undated 1 10 Levy family book (livret de famille), 1952 1 11 Levy, Marlyse: Birth certificate, 1937 1 12 Levy, Meta Mayer, 1891-1969 1 13 Levy, Theo, 1932-1998 1 14 Masserey, Antoinette, 1991 1 15 Mayer, Eduard and Auguste Herz, 1887-1931 1 16 Program: Inauguration of new synagogue in Sarreguemines, France, 1959 1 17 Restitution papers, 1951-1959 1 18 Scherman, Richard, 1998 1 19 Empty envelopes and folder, 1939 Series 2: Photographs, circa 1895-circa 1952 and undated Box Folder Title 1 20 Herz, Rudolf and Mathilde, circa 1890-circa 1930 1 21-22 Inauguration of new synagogue in Saarbrücken, circa 1952 (2 folders) Levy, Alfred: 1 23 Swiss Alps, circa 1937 1 24 World War I, circa 1914-1918 1 25 Circa 1895-circa 1952 1 26 Levy, Daniel, circa 1890-circa 1930 1 27 Levy, Emma, circa 1910s 1 28 Levy, Eugene and Jeanne, circa 1900-circa 1950 Levy family: 1 29 French Riviera, circa 1960 1 30 Luxembourg, circa 1935-circa 1938 1 31 Middelkerke, Belgium, 1939 2 1 Villefranche-de-Rouergue, France, circa 2 2 circa 1880-circa 1937 2 3 circa 1946-1995 2 4 Levy, Irene, André, and Pierre, 1947-circa 1955 2 5 Levy, Josephine, circa 1875-circa 1885 Levy, Marlyse: 2 6 On the SS Liberte, 1952 2 7 circa 1926-1945 (2 folders) OS 1 2 8 Levy, Meta Mayer, circa 1893-circa 1950s (2 folders) OS 2 2 9 Levy, Simon, circa 1875 Levy, Theo: 2 10 circa 1940-circa 1946 3 1 Photograph album, 1923-circa 1931 [tan album] 4
2 11 Masserey, Antoinette, circa 1940s 2 12 Mayer, Auguste, circa 1880-circa 1910 2 13 Mayer, Eduard, circa 1877-circa 1900 2 14 Mayer, Ella, circa 1905-circa 1918 2 15 Mayer family, 1880-1928 (2 folders) 4 2 2 16 Mayer, Olga, circa 1913-1941 2 17 Mayer, Theodore, 1927-circa 1930 2 18 Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting regarding Saarland, Paris, Prance, 1947 2 19 Scherman family, circa 1930s-circa 1960 2 20 Siesel family, circa 1900-1926 Siesel, Marcel: 2 21 circa 1932 3 2 Photograph album, 1912-1930 [grey album] 2 22 Supreme Court, Saarlouis and Saarbrücken, undated (2 folders) OS 3 2 23 Unidentified family and friends, circa 1880-circa 1950 2 24 World Jewish Congress, Montreux, Switzerland, 1948 4 1 Empty picture frame 5