Salomon and Frieda Hess: personal papers

This collection contains the personal papers of Salomon and Frieda Hess who emigrated to South Africa in 1939 whilst their disabled son Alfred Hess stayed behind at a psychiatric hospital until he was deported in 1942. Included are correspondence with the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich's Association of Jews in Germany) regarding legal guardianship and payment of maintenance costs for Alfred Hess as well as the management of their financial assets in preparations for emigration. Also included are papers relating to a restitution claim by Salomon and Frieda Hess.

Salomon ('Sally') Israel Hess, a Jewish businessman from Wattenscheid, North Rhine Westphalia, and his wife Frieda Sara Hess (née Jungblut) emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1939. In a letter Sally states that he was persecuted for being Jewish since 1933. The couple sold their business, Kaufhaus Hess, to Kaufhaus Horten GmbH in 1936. The money was used to finance their eimigration and to pay maintenance costs for their son Alfred Israel Hess (born 1908) who suffered from schizophrenia and had been living at a Jewish psychiatric hospital in Bendorf/Sayn near Koblenz (owned by Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) since 1931. Heinrich Pieneck from Gelsenkirchen was appointed to be Alfred Hess's legal guardian. In 1942 Alfred Hess was deported to an unknown destination where he was killed.

Chronological

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Donated by Kathy Cohen

2008/5