Emil and Alice Plaut Collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of personal papers, family histories, correspondence and legal documents regarding the personal and property restitution claims of Emil and Alice Plaut.
Personal documents contain information regarding Emil, Alice and their son, Felix Plaut, including birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, military documentation, identity and immigration papers. Immigration papers include documents pertaining to Felix' Kindertransport in 1939 to England and Emil's and Alice's immigration to the United States in 1940. Series 2 of the collection contains photocopied correspondence between Felix in London and his parents in Germany until Felix' untimely death in 1940 and family correspondence concerning his death. A synopsis of this correspondence can be found in Box 1, Folder 10. The collection also includes family trees and information pertaining to the wider Plaut family, primarily regarding the Loewenstein family.
The bulk of the collection (Series 3) contains correspondence and legal documentation between the Plauts and their lawyers in the United States and Germany regarding the Plauts' claims for personal and property restitution of the West German goverment between the years of 1948 and 2000. These claims include individual and joint claims dealing with Alice's lost of a clothing store in Frankfurt as well as claims of lost household property and goods.
In addition to personal, family and restitution claims documentation, the collection contains information about the Plauts' establishment of their company, Plaut Business Services in New York. These documents include: banking and business papers regarding joint and individual bank accounts, pension documentation, insurance, and personal finances. Miscellaneous items of interest include an English language textbook (Box 1, Folder 9), a newpaper clipping about the Plaut family from the New Jersey Jewish News, personal notes and additional correspondence.
Collection is in German, English and Hebrew.
Dates
- Creation: 1898-2001
Language of Materials
This collection is in English, German, and Hebrew.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org
Biographical Note
Emil Plaut was born August 1, 1898 in Frankenau (Hessen). He fought for Germany in World War I and later married Alice Loewenstein, born August 10, 1902 in Frankfurt am Main, in 1923. He became a stockbroker but was banned from the Frankfurt exchange in April 1933. Thereafter the couple had to depend on Alice’s income as owner of a clothing store. On November 12, 1938 Emil was sent to Buchenwald. He was released December 9, 1938. That same year they sent their son Felix, born 1924 or 25, who had been a student at the Philanthropin in Frankfurt, to London on a Kindertransport. He worked as an apprentice in the textile industry, but died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage in January 1940. Emil and Alice emigrated to the United States that same year and settled in New York City, where they established an office services business. Emil Plaut died on July 6, 1975. Alice Plaut died in December 2000.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Abstract
Documents, certificates, personal correspondence, legal correspondence and legal documents regarding Emil and Alice Plaut; the death of their son, Felix, in England; their subsequent emigration to the United States; and their efforts to obtain financial restitution from the West German government. The collection also contains numerous documents relating to the Plauts’ personal bank accounts, and several items relating to their business, Plaut Business Service, in New York.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into four series:
Microfilm
This collection is on two reels of microfilm (MF 898):
- Reel 1: 1/0 - 1/14
- Reel 2: 2/1 - 2/10
- Title
- Guide to the Emil and Alice Plaut Collection, 1898-2001 AR 25035 / MF 898
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Claire Gabriel
- Date
- © 2002
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from plaut02.xml
Revision Statements
- 2010-04-19 : encoding of linking to digital objects from finding aid was changed from <extref> to <dao> through dao_conv.xsl
- September 2004.: Converted to ead 2002. Revised as plaut02.xml by Dianne Ritchey Oummia. Removed deprecated elements and attributes, updated repository codes, added language codes, changed doctype declaration, etc.
- January 2006.: Entities removed from EAD finding aid.
- December 2008.: Microfilm information added. External links added.
- March 29, 2018:: Biographical note edited.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
