Collections: Memories of Themar

This website began with a ‘collection’ — the Photo Album of Manfred Rosengarten, Themar, My Hometown. The creation of the photo album in the early 1980s led to renewed connection between Manfred Rosengarten, who had very reluctantly left Themar in 1936, and his former non-Jewish classmates. Twenty years after Manfred’s death, his photo album served to connect other members of the Jewish families of Themar with today’s residents of the small city.

Since that time, many people — members of the former Jewish families of Themar as well as residents of Themar today — have generously shared their collections of photographs, postcards, and other items.

These collections are an extraordinary rich resource for the historian and others interested in the story of Germany when it included — and then lost — a vibrant Jewish community. We have used individual items from the collections throughout the site to illustrate many aspects of the story.

But here we showcase the collections as they are. Each collection tells a story of love and attachment and loss.

The Postcard Collection of Ilse Grünbaum, daughter of Karl & Hulda (née Schlesinger) Grünbaum
The Eva Mayer Collection (daughter of Meier & Karoline Mayer)
The Letters of Max & Clara Müller, 1938-1942 (in German)
The Manfred Rosengarten Photo Album

Images: Postcard Collection of Ilse Grünbaum. Courtesy: G. Meller