Nora Keren: personal papers

This material is held atThe Wiener Holocaust Library

  • Reference
    • GB 1556 WL1692
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1992-2004
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • German English
  • Physical Description
    • 3 folders

Scope and Content

This collection contains correspondence, press cuttings, photographs and papers collated by Nora Keren whose parents, grandparents and extended family were dispersed by the Holocaust. Her grandparents Josef and Frieda Waller died at Terezin and Auschwitz concentration camps. The family was part of the Jewish community of Grosskrotzenburg in Hesse, whose synagogue was raided during the November pogroms in 1938. The material relates to the opening of the memorial synagogue of Grosskrotzenburg and Nora Keren's donation to the synagogue of her grandmother's last letter to the family, the 825th anniversary of the municipality of Grosskrotzenburg in 2000, and Nora Keren's visits to other Jewish memorial places in Germany.

The interior of synagogue of Grosskrotzenburg was destroyed during the November pogroms on 10th November 1938, together with the adjacent Jewish school and teachers accommodation. Between 1952 and 1974 the building was used by the local Lutheran parish church. The municipality Grosskrotzenburg purchased the property in 1988 to renovate it. In 1992 the former synagogue was opened to the public as a memorial place.

Also included are papers and brochures relating to other Jewish memorial centres in Germany such as the House of the Wannsee Conference including scripts for a theatre performance entitled 'The Wannsee-Konferenz' and copy of protocols of the Wannsee Conference; Library of the Jewish Community Berlin; Jewish Museum and Jewish Community Centre Frankfurt, Hesse; and pamphlet entitled 'Jewish resistance in Germany – The facts and the problems' by Arnold Paucker of the German Resistance Memorial Centre.

Administrative / Biographical History

Nora Keren was the daughter of Klara Waller and granddaughter of Frieda and Josef Waller. Josef and Frieda (née Hirschmann) Waller had three children, Klara, Fritz and Theo. They owned a butcher's shop in Grosskrotzenburg, Hesse. Frieda's mother's maiden name was Selig which is why she was known as 'Seligs Frieda' by the community in Grosskrotzenburg. Fritz and Theo Waller emigrated to Palestine in 1935, their sister Klara followed in 1938. Their parents moved to Frankfurt in May 1939. The grandchildren of Josef and Frieda Waller, Nora Keren who lives in England, Yael Herz, daughter of Fritz Waller and Naomi Rozen, daughter of Theo Waller who both live in Israel, were guests at the opening of the former synagogue in Grosskrotzenburg in 1992.

Arrangement

Chronological

Access Information

See Wiener Library access conditions at: http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/usinglibrary/usingthelibrary.aspx

Acquisition Information

Donated by Nora Keren.

Note

2005/20

Related Material

See also Photo Archive 2005/20.

Family Names