Sturmthal and Löwenstein families: papers

This collection contains the personal papers of the Sturmthal and Löwenstein families from Bad Pyrmont and Steinheim respectively, Germany, who fled to England with the help of the Quakers in 1939. Included are birth, marriage and death certificates, German passports (1754/1-3), Dina Löwenstein's certificate of naturalisation and correspondence from Steinheim Town Council regarding the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the November pogroms. Also included are a family tree chart (1754/4/5), poem by A W Heinitz (1754/4/1) written at Douglas internment camp, Isle of Man, and press cuttings and papers regarding Jews in Bad Pyrmont.

The Sturmthal family originally came from Bad Pyrmont, Lower Saxony. Nicolaus Israel Sturmthal (1863-1943) was married to Lina Bendix (1865-1919). Nicolaus ran a family gents outfitter business until it was vandalised during the November pogroms in 1938. Their son Gustav Sturmthal (1895-1945 Letchworth) became a general practitioner and practiced from the parental house until he was prevented by Nazi laws in May 1938. He married Hildegard Sara Löwenstein (1897-1991). Her parents, Felix Löwenstein (1861-1937) and Dina Sara Hüneberg (1875-1962), owned a flour mill in Steinheim, near Bad Pyrmont. Gustav and Hildegard had two daughters: Elga Sturmthal (born 1923) and Gerda Sturmthal (1929-1995).

The entire family emigrated to England with the help of the Quakers. Leonard Friedrich (a friend?), who served two years at Buchenwald concentration camp, was married to an English woman, who used her contacts to provide Guarantors in England. The family settled down in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, after the war. Elga Sturmthal later got married to Robert Isom (1921-1994) with whom she had a son. Gerda Sturmthal married Francis Clayton (born 1926). They had two children.

Chronological

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Donated by Elga Isom

2007/61