Nadelmann and Wolff Families Collection

The Nadelmann and Wolff Families Collection documents the lives and histories of members of the Nadelmann, Wolff, Lewinsohn, and Kann families. The collection consists of family correspondence, photographs, genealogical research, and research on towns from which family members originated. Nearly all of the correspondence and many documents have been translated into English. The collection's original order has been retained in the arrangement of series.

The first series of the collection contains family correspondence of both the Nadelmann and Wolff sides of the family, which consists of both letters and postcards, along with some articles and information on specific family members. The correspondence centers around family news, including many letters focusing on Willi Lewinsohn's time in the German army during World War I, the emigration of Hans and Hilde Wolff to the United States and their early years there, and Martin and Paula Wolff's efforts to flee Germany and their eventual deportation. Other prominent topics among the correspondence include trips taken by Alfred Nadelmann and the lives of his sisters and their families in Israel. Closely related to the correspondence are the copious photographs that form Series II, including family photographs of the Wolffs, Nadelmanns, and Lewinsohns. Many of the correspondents of Series I can be seen in the photographs of Series II. Frequent subjects of the photographs are Hans and Hilde Wolff as children and young adults, Alfred Nadelmann as a young man, and many group shots showing multiple family members.

Series III focuses on family genealogy as well as research into the history of the families. The bulk of this series is composed of research on the towns family members and their ancestors came from, including many postcards that depict the towns as well as articles about them and maps upon which the towns were featured. In addition, the series includes family trees along with correspondence on the genealogy of the Kann family, related to the Wolffs.

Series IV holds addenda added after the processing of the archival collection and centers on the Wolff family, especially Martin and Paula Wolff. Much of this series consists of correspondence accompanied by related documentation and photographs. The correspondence focuses on the time Martin and Paula Wolff lived in Berlin under Nazi dictatorship, and includes descriptions of aid given the Wolffs by Rainer and Maria Barzel, among other topics. Series IV also includes material on a lecture on the Jewish history of Braunsberg (today Braniewo, Poland) and the family pharmacy as well as on Stolpersteine (commemorative stumbling stones) placed in Berlin in honor of Wolff and Nadelmann family members.