MS 324 Papers of Marianne Ellenbogen

Marianne Ellenbogen

Marianne Ellenbogen née Strauss was born in Essen in 1923 the older of two children of Seigfried and Regina (Ina) Strauss. Theirs was a prosperous Jewish family who did not seek to leave Germany until it was too late. Between 1941 and 1943 the family, including also Marianne’s maternal grandmother, Anna Rosenberg, her uncle Alfred Strauss and his wife Lore, lived under the protection of the Abwehr. In August 1943, with the collapse of the Abwehr, the family were arrested, sent to Theresienstadt and later deported to Auschwitz. Marianne fled and went on the run, aided by the Bund-Gemeinschaft für sozialistisches Leben, and spent two years travelling across Germany. She was in Dusseldorf when war ended and remained there until she joined her husband, Basil Ellenbogen, a British Jewish officer attached to the occupation forces, in the UK. Marianne Ellenbogen lived in Liverpool until her death in 1996.

About the collection

The archive is divided into four sections: papers of and relating to Marianne; Strauss family and business papers; other business papers; and papers relating to claims for restitution. The correspondence for Marianne, 1932-89, includes letters from her childhood, 1932-5, and from her fiancé, Ernst, firstly in Berlin, and then from Izbica, 1942; correspondence with the Red Cross in 1942-3 relating to Marianne’s attempts to find out what happened to Ernst; correspondence relating to her migration to the UK, 1945-52; correspondence with Werner Hoffman and Jakov (Klaus) Langer, 1985-9. Amongst other personal items are a wallet containing a ration book with stamps, photographs and a list of contacts, 1940s; a post war fine copy of Marianne’s wartime diary written whilst on the run, 1940s

Date range:

1932-89 

Former references:

A2007

Size:

25 boxes