Ostwald Family Collection 1816-1976 Bulk: 1889-1947

Documents refer to the Ostwald, Tendlau and Cohen families. One focus is on the life of Alice Witte née Cohn. Of special significance is a letter that Karl Siche wrote to Alice Witte. Together with Alice Witte's former husband Max Witte, Karl Siche was detained in a concentration camp. Here Max Witte passed away. There is also a remarkable letter from Hedwig Ostwald, which she wrote in Theresienstadt in 1944, prior to her deportation to Auschwitz where she died. Her husband Max Ostwald, a lawyer and the head of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (district Westphalia) had already died in 1942 in Theresienstadt from disease.Series I contains material relating to the Ostwald family. A eulogy for Philippine Ostwald from the year 1934 is included as well as a letter Hedwig Ostwald wrote in Theresienstadt. An English translation of both texts is enclosed. Newspaper obituaries for Max Ostwald belong to this series as well.Series II relates to the Tendlau family. A short genealogical chronicle that was written by Siegfried Tendlau sheds light on the Tendlau family tree. A translation into English is enclosed.Most of the material in Series III relates to Alice Witte. Personal writings, official documents, letters (among them is a letter from Karl Siche), the dissertation which Witte wrote on Mercantilism and Maritime Law, references and different certificates and curricula vitae.The following individuals are mentioned in this collection:Bachmann, Philippine; Cahn family; Cahn, Ludwig; Cohen family; Cohen, Alice Sophie; Frehar, Max; Heilemann family; Meyer, Johanna; Meyer, Wolf; Meyerowitz, Jan; Ostwald family (Westphalia); Ostwald, Hedwig (nee Strauss); Ostwald, Lore; Ostwald, Markus; Ostwald, Martin; Ostwald, Max; Ostwald, Philippine (nee Bachmann); Strauss, Hedwig; Tendlau family; Tendlau, Abraham Moses; Tendlau, Baruch Moses; Tendlau, Johanna (nee Meyer); Unger family; Weltzien, Lissy; Witte, Alice Sophie (nee Cohen)The following communities are mentioned in this collection:Eltsville; Erfurt; Strasbourg; Treuenbrietzen; WiesbadenLore & Martin Ostwald, September 1999Max Ostwald, born on June 6, 1884, in Sichtigvor (Westphalia), was the youngest of the four children of Philippine and Markus Ostwald. He married Hedwig Ostwald née Strauss in 1920 (?), who was born in Arnsberg in 1889. Together they had two children, Martin and Ernest Ostwald. In 1910, Max Ostwald received his doctorate for his dissertation Der Uebergang des gesetzlichen Hypothekentitels bei der Abtretung einer Werklohnforderung from the University of Heidelberg (Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet). Two years later, in 1912, he opened his law office in Dortmund.Max Ostwald was involved in the community life of conservative Jews in Dortmund as well as in Bielefeld. In the district of Westphalia he was also the head of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland.In 1942 Max Ostwald and his wife Hedwig were sent to Theresienstadt, where he died from disease (a calculus, enteritis and cardiac insufficiency had been diagnosed; a prostate operation had been scheduled). He was survived by his wife and his sons Martin and Ernest Ostwald. In 1944 Hedwig Ostwald was murdered in Auschwitz. Martin Ostwald immigrated to Canada, and Ernest to the United States via England.The link to the Tendlau family is Martin Ostwald's wife Lore Ostwald.Alice Witte née Cohen, daughter to Salomon Alfred Cohen and Eugenie Sophie Stern, was born in Strasbourg in 1889. Her link to the Ostwald family could not be traced. It is only assumed that Martin Ostwald held the collection's material relating to Alice Witte as her administrator. Alice Witte immigrated to the United States in 1940.For material about Abraham Tendlau see also: Gabriel Riesser Collection (AR 2027) and Moritz Werner Collection (AR 304).Photographs removed to Photograph CollectionProcesseddigitize