Irene Sommerfeld collection. 1922-2004

This collection contains genealogy and history of the Sommerfeld family, originally from Berlin, Germany. The oldest documents in the collection are photocopies of: Lilië Deutschovă's birth certificate (1922) accompanied by 2004 correspondence and birth certificate transcripts from Czech public records; chapter from book "Jüdische Flieger im Weltkrieg" about anti-Semitism in the armed forces, highlighting the experience of Hermann Sommerfeld who was unjustly demoted by a superior officer (1924), accompanied by handwritten English translation of this chapter; cemetery plot map for Jenny Sommerfeld's grave (1941) along with modern information about the Jüdischer Friedhof Weißensee; synopsis the World War II fate of several members of the Deutschá/Deutsch family (circa 1980s); Sommerfeld family tree, tracing family from mid 19th century to early 21st century (circa 2002); six page document entitled “Sommerfeld Family History,” describing their World War II and postwar experiences in Germany and the USA, transcribed from a manuscript, also in the collection, by Margot Sommerfeld (circa 2004, original Margot Sommerfeld document older and undated); photograph of the tombstone of Jenny Sommerfeld, née Aron, which includes other members of the Sommerfeld family in Berlin-Weissensee deported in World War II.digitizedA statue of an aviator, given to World War I pilot Hermann Sommerfeld, has been removed to the LBI Art and Objects Collection (photograph in file).Irene Sommerfeld’s mother was Lilië (Lilie) Deutschovă (b. 1910 in Polnĕ). Her parents were Hugo Deutsch and Karla, née Bulova, who were deported to Terezín in 1941/42 and then further east, where they perished.Irene Sommerfeld’s father, Hermann Sommerfeld, was born 1895 in Krojanke, Prussia (today Krajenka, Poland); he immigrated to USA in early 1939, where he worked as a salesman for a men’s material store