PISTINER FAMILY PAPERS, 1899 2000 2016.187.1 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: Pistiner family paper Dates: 1899 2000 (bulk 1908 1972) Accession number: 2016.187.1 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 20024 2126 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 1986. 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
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 2016. Custodial history: Collected by Josef Pistiner, and inherited by his daughter, Arona. Related archival materials: There are two paintings (IRN# 543613 and IRN# 543614) 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, 1930. Hagadah shel pesaḥ. = Die Pessach Haggadah / übersetzt und erklärt von Philipp Schlesinger und Josef Güns. Wien : Jos. Schlesinger, 1929. 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, 1928. 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, 1892 1954) 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, 1894 1968) 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 1927. The two were married Berlin on 29 March 1917. They had two sons, Max (1917 2006) and Josef (1922 2010). 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 1940. While apprenticing to be diamond cutter, he and his wife lived in the United States from around 1947 1961. He later owned a diamond cutting factory in Netanya, Israel. They had one son, Amikam Jacob (b. 1948) 2
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 1941. 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 1954. Taube died from a stroke while in Netanya, Israel in 1968. Joseph attended New Utrecht Evening High School in 1941 1942, 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 1943. 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 1950. He subsequently did further graduate work in electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins University (1951 1953) and in applied mathematics at the University of Colorado (1959 1960). 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 1986. System of arrangement The Pistiner family papers are arranged alphabetically as 4 series. Series 1: Biographical materials, 1906 1993 Series 2: Immigration, 1925 1945 Series 3: Photographs, 1916 circa 1950 Series 4: Ephemera, 1899 2000 Indexing terms Person: 3
Pistiner, Aron, 1892 1954. Pistiner, Taube, 1894 1968 Pistiner, Max, 1917 2006. Pistiner, Josef, 1922 2010. Corporate: United States. Army. Topical Subject: Jewish families Germany Berlin. Emigration & immigration United States 1940 1950. 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, 1906 1993 1 1 Genealogy of Pistiner family (Familien Stammbuch), 1922 1 2 Israel, 1946 1949 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), 1908 1941 OS 1 1 5 Employment (Arbeitsbuch), 1908 1912 1 6 Financial, Germany, 1925 1939 1 7 Passport, Austrian, 1920 1 8 Vital records (birth, death, military records), 1915 1954 Pistiner, Josef: 1 9 Childhood: Certificates, letter from brother on bar mitzvah, 1922 1937 1 10 Education, Germany, 1928 1939 1 11 Education, United States, undergraduate, 1941 1949 1 12 Education, United States, graduate, 1949 1960 1 13 Military service, United States (certificates, correspondence, newsletters), 1941 1946 1 14 Trip to Berlin for emigres, 1976 1993 1 15 Pistiner, Max, 1917 1934
1 16 Pistiner, Moritz: postcards from Russian prisoner of war camp, 1917 Pistiner, Taube: 1 17 Birth certificates, 1906 2 1 Death, 1968 2 2 Employment (Arbeitsbuch, certificates), 1912 1917 2 3 Passport, Austrian, 1915 2 4 Receipts, 1941 2 5 Restitution, 1959 1972 Series 2: Immigration, 1925 1946 2 6 Immigration and naturalization documents, United States, 1940 1946 2 7 List of code words used in family correspondence, undated 2 8 Passports, Romanian (Aron, Taube, and Josef Pistiner), 1939 2 9 Postcard, Japan and Manchuria, circa 1939 1940 2 10 Pre emigration documents, Germany, 1938 1939 2 11 Residence books, Japanese occupied Manchuria (Manchukuo), 1939 2 12 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, 1925 1940 Series 3: Photographs, 1916 circa 1950 3 3 Family and friends, unidentified, 1916 circa 1950 3 4 Kolberg, Pomerania, 1919 1923 3 5 Manchuria, circa 1939 3 6 Pistiner, Aron, circa 1918 1940 3 7 Pistiner family, circa 1925 circa 1950 3 8 Pistiner family on ship, circa 1939 circa 1940 Pistiner, Josef: 3 9 1922 circa 1950s 3 10 Berlin, 1986 3 11 United States Army, circa 1945 3 12 With school class, Berlin, circa 193 circa 1938 3 13 Pistiner, Taube, circa 1920 circa 1945 Series 4: Ephemera, 1899 2000 3 14 Horoscope (German), undated 4 1 Jüdische Winterhilfe der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin scroll, The Book of Esther, 1936 5
4 2 Jüdische Winterhilfe der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin scroll, circa 1936 3 15 Rilke, Rainer Maria. Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, 1899 With inscription to Josef Pistiner, 1938. Includes enclosure. 3 16 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum brochures and certificate, 1994 2000 6