Rudolf, Philipp and Eva Manes: personal papers and correspondence

This collection contains the diary of Rudolf Manes (1699/1) and personal papers of Philipp and Eva Manes (see also WL Doc 1346 for Philipp Manes's papers).

Rudolf Manes was the oldest son of Gertrud Elias and Philipp Manes. Philipp Manes was a German Jewish fur trader who was deported to Terezin concentration camp and perished with his wife in Auschwitz in 1944. Rudolf Manes wrote the diary from 1939 to 1943 whilst in internment and serving with the Foreign Legion. He stopped writing when he was back in regular contact with his sisters who had emigrated to England. In the diary he provides a lively account of his circumstances and living conditions as well as his thinking about his own fate and the political situation at the time.

Also included are photographs and military and personal documents of Philipp Manes (1699/2) such as confirmation of award of the Iron Cross (1699/2/1), First World War army 'Soldbuch' (1699/2/2), First World War military service certificate ('Militärdienstbescheinigung') (1699/2/3), identification document (WL1699/3/1) and marriage certificate (1699/3/3).

The collection also includes a letter from Philipp Manes sent from Theresienstadt concentration camp to his childhood friend Adolf Franck (1699/4/2), correspondence with Sonia Schellong, and letters sent between Eva Manes, daughter of Philipp Manes, and Murrhardter Pelzveredelung Franke GmbH regarding a publication on the fur industry in Berlin and Leipzig (1699/5).

Rudolf was born on 7 April 1906 in Berlin. He did his apprenticeship in the fur industry in Berlin and Leipzig. In 1929 he went to Paris to continue his studies. He visited his family twice but did not return to Germany after the National Socialists had come to power and never saw his parents again. Rudolf was interned as enemy alien in September 1939. Soon after he joined the Foreign Legion and served in Northern Africa. His unit was mainly involved in building roads on behalf of the Société des Grands Travaux de l'Est with whom he continued working after the war as an accountant in various locations worldwide. He retired in Paris and died in 2001.

Eva and Annemarie Manes, daughters of Philipp Manes, fled to Britain in 1939. Eva was working as an office manager in Oxfordshire after the Second World War. She died in 2004 at the age of 95.

For Philipp Manes's biography see WL Doc 1346.

Chronological

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

Donated by Eva Manes.

2005/37

See also Photo Archive 2005/37 and personal papers of Philipp Manes (WL1346), Eva Manes (WL1536, WL1549 and WL1560) and Walter Manes (WL1548); 'Als ob's ein Leben w#228;r : Tatsachenbericht Theresienstadt : 1942-1944' by Philipp Manes (K4h Terezin Man) and 'As if it were life : a WWII diary from the Theresienstadt ghetto' translation of Philipp Manes's diary by Manes et al (K4h Terezin Man).