Kirschner Family papers

The Kirschner Family papers document the resettlement of members of the Kirschner family during their immigration from Eastern Europe to Philadelphia in the late 1930s. The papers contain Michael S. Kirschner's personal correspondence, which details his journey from the occupied town of Bialystok in present-day Poland to the United States on the eve of World War II (1939-1945). Additionally, a significant portion of the materials consist of personal correspondence from Jewish refugees requesting resettlement to the United States and immigration affidavits of support from eligible sponsors. These letters were written to Isadore L. Kirschner from various Jewish organizations throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including: Bureau of Service for Foreign Born, Philadelphia Section of the National Council of Jewish Women; the Jewish Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.); the Philadelphia Jewish Vocational Service; and the Philadelphia Refugee Resettlement Committee. The papers also include: personal correspondence of the Kirschner and Steinberg families documenting Jewish immigration to Argentina and the religious life of Jewish families in the United States; an oral history of Helen Kirschner, Florence Cohen and Esther Burstein; and photocopies of minutes (administrative records) of the Brotherhood of the Society of Friends (1914-1919), an American-Jewish fraternal organization based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Isadore L. Kirschner’s publications, Memories of the Kirschner family (1984) and A tale of two families: The Harcavi / Kirschner mystery (1986), are also included among the papers.