%eadnotat; ]> 6R304gewe Finding Aid for Gertrude Weaver Refugee Correspondence, 1942-1949 Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 2008 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by FHL Staff, 2008 Finding aid written in English Finding Aid for Gertrude Weaver Refugee Correspondence, 1942-1949 FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 2008 Descriptive Summary Finding Aid for Gertrude Weaver Refugee Correspondence1942-1949 RG6/R3/004 Gertrude Weaver .5 linear ft. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.

For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Gertrude Weaver graduated from Swarthmore College in 1938 with degrees on German and History, and spent her junior year (1936-1937) in Munich. After graduation, she taught German at Chester High School where she and her students corresponded sent relief packages to families in Western Europe struggling to survive in impoverished post-World War II Europe. This collection contains Weaver’s correspondence with the recipients of her aid, as well as records of the logistics of the operation. The majority of the correspondence involves the Bergas family, German refugees living in Montauban, France.

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399

Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE

Gertrude Weaver graduated from Swarthmore College in 1938 with degrees on German and History. She spent her junior year (1936-1937) in Munich, and went on to receive a Masters’ degree in teaching from Columbia University in 1939. She then began teaching German at Chester High School, where she and her students sent relief packages to families in Western Europe struggling to survive in impoverished post-World War II Europe. In addition to her career at Chester High School, Weaver also worked in the Newark School District, at Penn State College, and the Shandong College of Oceanography in China. She took additional classes at the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania. Weaver was killed in a car accident in 1998.

SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS

This collection contains Weaver’s correspondence with the recipients of her post WWII aid, as well as records of the logistics (sending receipts, package contents) of the operation. The majority of the correspondence follows the Bergas, a family of German refugees living in Montauban, France. Hans Bergas resisted the Nazis during their rise to power, and for his political activism was imprisoned and later sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. Though he was eventually liberated and reunited with his family, he remained an invalid as a result of brutal conditions and torture. Because he was forced to remain in bed, Bergas had ample time to correspond with Weaver and her students, and as a result wrote an extensive account of his resistance to fascism and his experience in Buchenwald, which he sent to Chester High School in segments. Weaver eventually attempted to have Hans Bergas’ memoir published in Readers’ Digest magazine, but it was rejected. For a while, Weaver reportedly used this memoir in the place of textbooks in her classes.

Weaver developed strong and lasting relationships with the families to whom she sent aid, often corresponding with them during school vacations and holidays, demonstrating that for her it was more than a class project. She made an effort to find other families in need of aid, taking suggestions from those she was in contact with for other families in need, and either corresponded with them directly or put them in contact with another Americans or groups of Americans interested in relief work. In addition to her Bergas correspondence, this collection also contains lengthy correspondence with the Kluth, Kühn, and Rollinger families.

The collection is organized into the following series as received:

Gertrude Weaver’s Correspondence and Log of Mailings Memoir and Correspondence from Hans Bergas and his Family Other Correspondence Miscellaneous ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

This collection was originally given to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection by Anna Janney DeArmond '32 and was conveyed by John Beers in 1999; Gertrude Weaver lived for many years with Anna Janney DeArmond, Class of 1932, then at the Cokesbury retirement community. The collection was subsequently transferred to the Swarthmore College Archives. It is related to the SCPC DG45 Wilhelp Sollman papers.

Accession number: SCA 1999-014.

Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Indicate the cited item or series here], Swarthmore College Archives, Gertrude Weaver Refugee Correspondence, 1942-1949, RG6/R3/004, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Processing information

This collection was given to the Friends Historical Library by John Beers, and was assembled in various ways. Some letters and records were loose in folders, and others were put into display binders (probably by Weaver). The papers that were loose have been classified by family and put into chronological order. Those that came to us in binders were left there to preserve Weaver’s own methods of classification. While some of the letters have been translated into English, many have not. Some of the letters handwritten from recipients of aid have been typed, but some have not. There are many more letters from the recipients than copies of the letters Weaver sent overseas. In addition, in the binders there are photographs of members of many families who received Weaver’s aid

SELECTED SEARCH TERMS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings:

Weaver, Gertrude, d. 1998. Buchenwald (Concentration camp) -- History. World War, 1939-1945 -- France -- History. Germany -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945. World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives -- French. World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives -- German. Concentration camp inmates -- Biography. Chester High School (Chester, Pa.) -- Students. Kluth, Wilhelm Vorwerk, Walter Parish, Hertha Kuhn, Marianne Bergas, Hans Bergas, Hans DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below:

Ser.1 Gertrude Weaver’s Correspondence and Log of Mailings Letters from Weaver 1947 2mo 21-1948 4mo 10 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Some English, some German. To Kluth family, Bergas family, and Eddie Ginsburg.

Log of mailings to Europe 1946 1mo 29-1948 11mo 23 1 folder 1

In original order. Includes contents of packages, dates sent (usually), sending receipts, and cost of products.

Ser.2 Memoir and Correspondence from Hans Bergas and his Family Letters from the Bergas Family 1946 1mo 13-1946 12mo 25 1 folder 1 Written in German, French,and English

Letters from the Bergas family, German refugees living in Montauban, France. All are originals, in German or French; some are translated.

Letters from the Bergas family 1947 1mo 23-1948 12mo 5 1 folder 1 Written in German

All originals, not translated.

Correspondence with Bergas family, etc. 1942-1947 6mo 8 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Binder includes other correspondence, photographs, clippings. Kept in original binder, in original order. Originals and some translations.

Hans Bergas’ memoir (partial) n.d. 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Incomplete sections, typed in German and English.

Buchenwald Experience of Hans Bergas Written for Chester High School Students 1914-1946 1946 1 folder 1

Complete memoir, typed in English with corrections written in in pen. Includes hand-drawn map, labeled in English.

Manuscript of Hans Bergas’ memoir 1946 1 folder 1 Written in German

Hand-written in German.

Enlarged map of Buchenwald 1946 1 folder 1

Hand-copied. On large piece of cardboard, labeled in English.

Ser.3 Other Correspondence Letters from Hertha Parish 1946 7mo 7-1946 8mo 1 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Only record of correspondence with this person, two letters. One letter in German, one partially in English, partially in German.

Letters from Kluth Family 1946 10mo 28-1947 8mo 3 1 folder 1 Written in German

All originals, not translated.

Correspondence with Luxemburg families 1946 1mo 30-1946 8mo 31 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Binder of correspondence with Kühn and Rollinger families. Kept in original binder, in original order. Originals and some translations

Letters from the Vorwerk family 1949 1mo 25-1949 5mo 21 1 folder 1 Written in Germanand English

Two letters. Originals, in German.

Ser.4 Miscellaneous Miscellaneous papers 1945 10mo 6-n.d. 1 folder 1 Written in Frenchand English

Includes copies of French government documents (in French), a letter from Hans Bergas to Genosse Sollman, newspaper clipping about Weaver’s packages, and guidelines for sending packages by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.