Kurt Seelig Collection

This collection contains materials by and about Kurt Seelig and his family. The majority relates to Seelig's time with Bernard and Winifred Schlesinger, who opened a London hostel for 12 German-Jewish children that arrived via Kindertransport. The diary of ten-year-old Kurt Seelig, written between 1939 and 1940, is particularly notable.

Seelig's personal documents, which are color copies, include correspondence and forms relating to his inclusion in a Kindertransport and placement with the Schlesinger family in England. Kurt Seelig's diary chronicles his childhood life in England from August 28, 1939 to July 1, 1940. It discusses daily life, such as school and leisure time activities like going to the movies, as well as commenting on the war situation. It is written in German, and contains pasted-in postcards, photographs, and clippings from British newspapers. Some loose items, such as envelopes and a photograph, were left as found in the diary.

The collection also includes a poor photocopy of the diary of Fritz Seelig, Kurt's older brother, from the same time period. Fritz was also sent to England on a Kindertransport, but he was placed with a different family. The content is similar – daily life, school, the political situation – but written from a more sophisticated point-of-view.

The collection also includes materials about the Schlesinger's hostel. A packet, assembled in 1999, entitled "The Schlesinger's Hostel," contains photocopies of documents detailing the establishment and operation of the hostel in 1938 and 1939, as well as commentary and context written in the late 1990s. A photocopied packet entitled "Shepherd's Hill Tales" contains reminiscences from eight people who as German-Jewish children were taken in by the Schlesingers. They are Lore Vajifdar, Vera Ellis, Ilse Eden, Steffi Schwarcz, Mark Kneale, Kurt Seelig, Ilse Henry, and Elisabeth Maybaum.

Also found in the collection are materials about Bernhard Schlesinger, such as eulogies and obituaries and a photograph; a photocopy of Bernhard and Winifred Schlesinger's golden anniversary album; a photocopy of a 2001 brochure about Kindertransports; and a journal about the history of Schwedt that includes two articles about the Jews of Schwedt.