History Center Launches New Digital Archive Documenting Local Effort to Rescue Jews During the Holocaust

The Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives has launched a new digital archive featuring more than 500 letters from the papers of Henry Ellenbogen (pictured) which detail local efforts to free Jewish people in Europe during the Holocaust.

The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the History Center has launched a new digital archive featuring over 500 letters from the papers of United States Congressman Henry Ellenbogen that document his efforts to help Jews escape Europe during the Holocaust.

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1900, Ellenbogen immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1921 and graduated from the Duquesne University Law School before practicing law locally. From 1932-1938, he held a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and served on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas from 1938 until his mandated retirement in 1977.

As a result of his prominence during the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ellenbogen received correspondence from many Jewish people who were trying to escape from Central Europe during the early years of Nazi rule. The American government required anyone immigrating into the U.S. during those years to obtain an affidavit from an American citizen.

The new digital collection documents this process in incredible detail, showing the persistence required for anyone escaping Europe and conveying the urgency and fear of surviving those years.

The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives digitized this collection of correspondence with a generous grant from Henry’s daughter Judi Ellenbogen, who wanted her children Judith, Luisa, and Henry to see this collection as an example of what one human being can achieve with perseverance. 

“Thanks to the generosity of the Ellenbogen family, the digitization of these important letters will allow Holocaust researchers in Western Pa. and beyond to better understand how a Pittsburgher’s efforts helped Jewish people escape Nazi-occupied Europe,” said Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives. 

Founded in 1988, the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives, part of the Detre Library & Archives at the Heinz History Center, collects, preserves, and makes accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pa.