Antonia Jacoby: correspondence

This collection contains a photocopy and transcripts of correspondence from Antonia Jacoby sent to her family in 1933 and in 1940, a few days after she escaped from Germany and emigrated to Japan. The letters provide an account of her voyage to Japan and the obstacles she had to overcome in Germany before leaving. The complex financial problems she describes are a reflection of the new laws imposed on Jews in Germany at the time. The letter from Japan was written to Marie Behrendt, wife of Antonia's cousin Fritz Behrendt, who used to live in Breslau before emigrating to Argentina.

Not much is known about the personal background of Antonia ('Toni') Jacoby. She fled Germany in 1940 and went to Japan via USSR, Manchuria and Korea. She arrived in June 1940. After being refused a permit to enter Palestine, Antonia and her old mother went to Kobe, Japan, to stay with their relatives, Eva and Hans Mendelson. They stayed in Kobe until the end of the Second World War. After the death of her mother, Antonia moved to Israel in 1947.

Fritz and Marie Behrendt, to whom the letter from Japan was addressed, emigrated from Breslau to Argentina in 1937/38.

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Donated by Yael and Isaac Naaman

2011/27