Lee Comer (née Sanders): family papers

This material is held atThe Wiener Holocaust Library

Scope and Content

This collection contains the family papers of Lee Comer (née Sanders), the daughter of Jewish refugees from Austria and Czechoslovakia respectively. Her father, Hermann Schleifer, managed to emigrate to England in 1939 whilst his brother Erwin was shot during an attempt to flee the country. Their mother perished at Auschwitz concentration camp. The family of Lee Comer's mother, Gina Manning (née Bäumlova), was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Whilst Gina managed to flee the country, her sister and mother survived the dreadful living conditions at Auschwitz. Her father perished in the Holocaust.

Included are the papers and correspondence submitted to the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism Austria and the International Commission on Holocaust Insurance Claims relating to the Schleifer family as well as correspondence with Yad Vashem. Also included are correspondence, photographs and papers relating to the Bäuml family, as well as a transcript of an interview with Inge Lojdova (née Bäumlova).

Administrative / Biographical History

Fanny Schleifer (1881-1944) and Jacob Schleifer lived in Vienna. They had two sons: Hermann (1909-1985) and Erwin (1911-1941). Hermann Schleifer emigrated to England as a Jewish refugee in 1938. He was recruited into the Pioneer Corps and changed his name to Harry Thomas Sanders. He married Gina Manning (1922-1982, née Bäumlova) a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia, with whom he had a daughter, Lee Comer (née Sanders), in 1943. Harry Sanders was naturalised in 1947.

Erwin Schleifer was shot whilst trying to escape to Israel in 1941. Fanny Schleifer was deported to Terezin concentration camp in 1942. She was moved to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, where she perished shortly after arrival.

Gina Manning grew up in Vrchlabi, Czechoslovakia. Her parents were Herta (1901-1969, née Kornfeldova) and Frantisek Bäuml (1895-1945). Gina was sent to England as a 16-year-old girl in 1938. Her parents and sister Inge (born 1929) were unable to leave the country in time. They were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Whilst Herta and Inge survived, Frantisek died on the death march in 1945.

Arrangement

Chronological

Access Information

Acquisition Information

Donated by Lee Comer

Note

2012/28