Martin Thurnauer Collection
Scope and Content Note
Folder 1 contains information about Martin Thurnauer, about the documents in the collection, and some correspondence between his daughter Stephanie Weiss and Hans Thurnauer (possibly Martin's nephew) about the collection.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, reports, and other documents concerning the confiscation in 1933 of the ceramics firm Steatit Magnesia AG (Stemag). Martin Thurnauer sat on the board of directors and was one of the main business persons in Stemag. In the summer of 1933, the local Nazi party pushed Thurnauer and other Jews out of the firm. Thurnauer was briefly taken into protective custody in the summer of 1933, but upon his release he negotiated a buyout and then left with his family for the United States.
This collection also contains some personal documents relating to Martin Thurnauer, such as correspondence about Thurnauer's expulsion in 1933 from a hiking and a sports club, documents about the death of Martin's father Bernhard Thurnauer, and photographs of Thurnauer family gravestones.
Dates
- Creation: 1933-1998
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1933
Creator
- Thurnauer, Hans (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is in German, except Folder 1, which is in English.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Biographical Note
Martin Thurnauer (1894-1974) was born in Nuremberg to Bernhard (1855-1936) and Josefine Rudolph Thurnauer. (His mother was born in Sitka, Alaska to Martin Rudolph.) Martin Thurnauer was married to Helene (Leni, née Franc), and had two daughters, Stephanie Weiss and Lieselotte (Lilo) Hoffmann. Thurnauer was a businessman in the ceramic company Steatit Magnesia AG. In 1933, he and the other Jews were forced out of the firm, and he fled to the USA in early 1934. He and his family settled in New Jersey.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection primarily consists of correspondence, reports, and other documents concerning the confiscation ("Aryanization") in 1933 of the ceramics firm Steatit Magnesia AG (Stemag). Martin Thurnauer sat on the board of directors and was one of the main business persons in Stemag, and was pushed out of the firm by the local Nazi party. The collection also contains some personal documents.
Arrangement
This collection is divided into two series, Personal and Steatit Magnesia.
Processing Information
This collection was rearranged into series, arranged in chronological order, and rehoused. Some original documents are very fragile, but most are on onion skin paper and are in good condition.
Subject
- Thurnauer, Martin, 1894-1974 (Person)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Martin Thurnauer (1894-1974) Collection Undated, 1933-1998 , bulk 1933 AR 10901
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Kevin Schlottmann
- Date
- © 2011
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Revision Statements
- May 03, 2013 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
- May 02, 2017 : Links to folder 11 added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
