1906

Jewish

greek

M2021/043:076

Request from onsite storage

Certificate documentation awarded to Adolf Gelber, signed by the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Locus Sigilli, on behalf of King George I of Greece on 22 March 1906. The documentation is handwritten with a wax seal. Collection of material relating to the Gelber/Altschul family. This collection includes documentation and photographs relating to the wartime experiences of Adolf (Dolf), Dolf’s wife Gertud (Gerty) and son Harry. Included in the collection are pre-war material such as books and articles relating to Dolf’s father, academic and writer Adolf Gelber and pre-war family photographs from both the Gelber and Altschul families. Dolf Gelber was born 30 November 1900 to Jewish Austrian parents, Adolf and Therese Gelber (nee Schimmer). His father, Adolf, was a successful writer, publishing a variety of literature based texts from Shakespearean theory, children’s fairy-tale stories and travel writing as well as working as a newspaper editor for ‘Neues Wiener Tagblatt’. He fell ill shortly after the First World War and died in early 1923. Dolf worked as a Bank Officer and married Gertrud (Gerty) Altschul on 14 May 1924 in a Lutheran Church and honeymooned in Italy. The couple welcomed their son, Harry Gregor Vladan Emil Gelber on 2 June 1926. The family moved to France before moving back to Vienna and lived in a flat in the Wollzeile 12. Between December 1937 and March 1938, Gerty had worked at the Hotel Imperial, Vienna as a trainee for the Department for Patisserie, however she was forced to leave before she had finished. In a reference by the hotel on 16 May 1938 it states; ‘Due to the political events in Austria, she had to give up her apprenticeship’. Their son, Harry, recalled antisemitic signs plastered across Jewish shops and wearing a swastika in his shirt buttonhole whenever he went outside. Due to the escalating measures after Anschluss, the family became fearful for their future in Vienna and the family began to search for different means to escape through emigration. Harry was sent to England on the Kindertransport in December 1938. He arrived and initially stayed as a boarder with Jean and Geoffrey Turberville. Geoffrey was Headmaster of Eltham College in London and lived in the ‘Tower House’ near the school. Harry attended the college before it was evacuated to Richmond School in Yorkshire, joining the Green Howards Cadets before enlisting in the army right at the end of the war. He was assigned to the 48th Foot Northamptonshire Regiment and sent to India, Malaysia and Singapore. He gained a position as a journalist with Reuters in Germany and married his wife, Susan Tacke in 1955. They had four children. He moved with his family to Australia in 1962 and became the Head of the School of Government at the University of Tasmania. Harry passed away in 2017. Gerty (b. 1903) was able to escape to England in March/April 1939 and obtained work throughout the war as an assistant chef and cook for various English Hotels including at Richmond, Yorkshire, where Harry was boarding. This required navigating complex levels of rationing and nutrition for both adults and school children. Gerty continued to work until she passed away 28 January 1955 in London. Gerty’s parents, Max and Bertha Altschul were transported to Theresienstadt on 22 July 1942 before they were transported to Aushwitz in 1944. Both her parents were murdered. Last to leave Austria, Dolf was warned of his possible arrest and fled to the Dutch border in late August 1939. He told his family he left with no luggage, only a toothbrush. From Holland, he travelled to England where he was interned on Alderney and worked as a farm labourer. He was able to join the Royal Navy after responding to an advertisement for German speakers becoming a Leading Writer Specialist and working with intercepted German transmissions. He worked as an accountant after the war and continued to live in London until his death in 1976.

Manuscripts

2023-01-25