collection of correspondence between Rolf Peglau and his mother Alice (nee Pfieffer)
Object numberM2019/070:001
Titlecollection of correspondence between Rolf Peglau and his mother Alice (nee Pfieffer)
DescriptionCollection of 21 personal letters between Rolf Peglau in Berlin and his mother Alice Peglau (nee Pfeiffer) in London from 1939-1941. Alice escaped to England in June 1939, forced to leave behind her sons Rolf and Heinz in Europe. At only 18 years old, Rolf was forced to navigate the precarious life of a Jew in Nazi Germany. His emotional letters speak to the difficulties of being separated from family and his acute loneliness. On the eve of World War II Rolf wrote: "You can easily imagine that I cried when I received your kind-hearted letter. I had a feeling then that we would never see one another ever again… altogether it is an ordeal which I cannot bear for long… now we have entered a period where it would be better if one didn’t wake up anymore… I become aware that I am now really alone and that no other person is at my side." At the end he leaves his plea, "Please keep this letter forever."
Although careful of censorship, this correspondence is also an insight into the conditions and growing restrictions for Jews in Germany. For example, Rolf's first letters constantly reference his need to borrow money. By the end of 1938, one-fourth of Jews needed financial support; Jews were only paid for work done, could not claim for sickness and were generally paid the lowest wages. Though Rolf worked hard labour building railway tracks, he was often injured or out of work due to the weather. In a letter from 29 October 1939 he wrote: "…I had an accident to my right hand. Two of my fingers are split from the third joint to the nail. I am in great pain and now again I am unable to work." In 1940 all Jewish men between the ages of 18 and 55 had to register for forced labour. But despite the severity of the work, Rolf does not complain and in fact speaks of his endurance with pride. On 28 April 1940 he wrote "…I work like a horse. Yesterday we had to carry gravel from a heap to the rails in a box, vie a ditch. Such a box weighs one and a half hundred weights. Two men carry such a box. I carried 175 boxes in 5 hours… I was the best performer… The foreman laughed and said (to the other workers), '175 boxes! You’ll never in a year match that!' And I was the only J."
Restrictions imposed in 1940 forbade Jews from buying shoes, lingerie and clothing, and indeed Rolf mentioned several times that, since he has grown much taller, he can find nothing to wear. Despite all adversity, Rolf's letters show the young man's growth in maturity, responsibility and care for family. By 1941 he proudly writes that he has managed to save money and sends everything he can to family in need, particularly his aunt Gretchen. Midway through 1941, all communication with Rolf ceased. In one of his last letters he wrote "My beloved Mummy, I always think of you. You should be able to be proud of me."
These letters are part of a larger collection of 196 letters, postcards, Red Cross messages and notes of condolence donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by Hans and Helen Pfeiffer, March 2010. The material belonged to Alice Peglau (nee Pfeiffer), Hans Pfeiffer's Aunt.
Alice Peglau (nee Pfeiffer) was born on 12 October 1895 in Berlin, into a wealthy family. She had three brothers: Egon, Walter and Rudi. She married Leonhard Peglau and had two sons, Heinz (born 1 June 1920) and Rolf (born 21 July 1921). Leonhard was murdered sometime from 1933, possibly in Dachau, although the details are unclear. Amongst the collection is legal correspondence regarding compensation on behalf of Leonhard from May 1933. Job references dated 1936 to 1939 testify that Alice worked as a governess and housekeeper in Berlin.
In February 1939, Heinz moved to Amsterdam and lived for a time with his uncle Egon Pfeiffer (donor Hans Pfeiffer's father) and Egon's Dutch wife, Mary. Heinz met his fiancee Edith, both ardent Zionists belonging to Bachad; an orthodox youth movement focused on equipping young Jewish men and women with skills needed for a future life in Palestine. Heinz was required to undergo agricultural training in Holland for two years before he could be eligible to go to Palestine. Rolf on the other hand was assigned to work constructing railways while he awaited various emigration applications.
In June 1939, 44-year-old Alice managed to flee to London, where she worked as a housekeeper for two British aristocratic families; Lady and Viscount Nuttfield and for Mrs Venables. From there she made attempts to assist Rolf's emigration to England, though this was unsuccessful. Alice's letters to her sons convey her overwhelming anxiety for their wellbeing and her efforts to provide advice and parent from afar. She sent them money and wrote to friends and family in Berlin and Amsterdam, urging them to look after her boys.
Towards the end of 1941 Rolf resided in Ahrensdorf, a Hachschara training camp located in Luckenwalde, not far from Berlin. He was deported from there on 18 October 1941 and transported to the Lodz ghetto. He was deported again in 1942 to a concentration camp, most likely Chelmno, where he was murdered. Heinz and Edith were deported to Vught on 10 April 1943, and thereafter to Westerbork. On 31 August 1943 they were sent to Auschwitz where they were later murdered.
Various themes come across in this collection; the anxiety of separation from family; Germany's obsession with racial purity - "mixed" marriages and Mischlinge; the increasing cruelties of daily life in Nazi Germany, food and clothing restrictions, escalating despair, suicides, deportations; wartime censorship; Hachshara - preparation for emigration to Palestine; and the aftermath of war.
The collection also includes letters that chronicle the post-war period (from August 1945), for example those from Alice's brother Egon in Amsterdam asking for basic food because "there is nothing". Other letters reveal Alice's agonising search for answers as to the fate of her sons. Juda Landau, a friend of Heinz', wrote, "Auschwitz was hell and I do not know what further happened to your son." A 1945 letter to her from an uncle, Sergeant Curtis Rosenberg, of the US Army Legal Division stationed in Berlin, informed her that there is no word of either Heinz or Rolf from the Berlin Jewish Community. Alice only received absolute confirmation of Heinz' death in 1947. She never learned Rolf's fate.
As sole survivor, Alice decided to join her brother Rudi in Sydney, arriving in 1948/9. Initially she worked in his haberdashery shop in Pitt Street. Alice was a talented musician and artist, playing the piano and violin. Some of her compositions have been donated to the Conservatorium of Music.
Although careful of censorship, this correspondence is also an insight into the conditions and growing restrictions for Jews in Germany. For example, Rolf's first letters constantly reference his need to borrow money. By the end of 1938, one-fourth of Jews needed financial support; Jews were only paid for work done, could not claim for sickness and were generally paid the lowest wages. Though Rolf worked hard labour building railway tracks, he was often injured or out of work due to the weather. In a letter from 29 October 1939 he wrote: "…I had an accident to my right hand. Two of my fingers are split from the third joint to the nail. I am in great pain and now again I am unable to work." In 1940 all Jewish men between the ages of 18 and 55 had to register for forced labour. But despite the severity of the work, Rolf does not complain and in fact speaks of his endurance with pride. On 28 April 1940 he wrote "…I work like a horse. Yesterday we had to carry gravel from a heap to the rails in a box, vie a ditch. Such a box weighs one and a half hundred weights. Two men carry such a box. I carried 175 boxes in 5 hours… I was the best performer… The foreman laughed and said (to the other workers), '175 boxes! You’ll never in a year match that!' And I was the only J."
Restrictions imposed in 1940 forbade Jews from buying shoes, lingerie and clothing, and indeed Rolf mentioned several times that, since he has grown much taller, he can find nothing to wear. Despite all adversity, Rolf's letters show the young man's growth in maturity, responsibility and care for family. By 1941 he proudly writes that he has managed to save money and sends everything he can to family in need, particularly his aunt Gretchen. Midway through 1941, all communication with Rolf ceased. In one of his last letters he wrote "My beloved Mummy, I always think of you. You should be able to be proud of me."
These letters are part of a larger collection of 196 letters, postcards, Red Cross messages and notes of condolence donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by Hans and Helen Pfeiffer, March 2010. The material belonged to Alice Peglau (nee Pfeiffer), Hans Pfeiffer's Aunt.
Alice Peglau (nee Pfeiffer) was born on 12 October 1895 in Berlin, into a wealthy family. She had three brothers: Egon, Walter and Rudi. She married Leonhard Peglau and had two sons, Heinz (born 1 June 1920) and Rolf (born 21 July 1921). Leonhard was murdered sometime from 1933, possibly in Dachau, although the details are unclear. Amongst the collection is legal correspondence regarding compensation on behalf of Leonhard from May 1933. Job references dated 1936 to 1939 testify that Alice worked as a governess and housekeeper in Berlin.
In February 1939, Heinz moved to Amsterdam and lived for a time with his uncle Egon Pfeiffer (donor Hans Pfeiffer's father) and Egon's Dutch wife, Mary. Heinz met his fiancee Edith, both ardent Zionists belonging to Bachad; an orthodox youth movement focused on equipping young Jewish men and women with skills needed for a future life in Palestine. Heinz was required to undergo agricultural training in Holland for two years before he could be eligible to go to Palestine. Rolf on the other hand was assigned to work constructing railways while he awaited various emigration applications.
In June 1939, 44-year-old Alice managed to flee to London, where she worked as a housekeeper for two British aristocratic families; Lady and Viscount Nuttfield and for Mrs Venables. From there she made attempts to assist Rolf's emigration to England, though this was unsuccessful. Alice's letters to her sons convey her overwhelming anxiety for their wellbeing and her efforts to provide advice and parent from afar. She sent them money and wrote to friends and family in Berlin and Amsterdam, urging them to look after her boys.
Towards the end of 1941 Rolf resided in Ahrensdorf, a Hachschara training camp located in Luckenwalde, not far from Berlin. He was deported from there on 18 October 1941 and transported to the Lodz ghetto. He was deported again in 1942 to a concentration camp, most likely Chelmno, where he was murdered. Heinz and Edith were deported to Vught on 10 April 1943, and thereafter to Westerbork. On 31 August 1943 they were sent to Auschwitz where they were later murdered.
Various themes come across in this collection; the anxiety of separation from family; Germany's obsession with racial purity - "mixed" marriages and Mischlinge; the increasing cruelties of daily life in Nazi Germany, food and clothing restrictions, escalating despair, suicides, deportations; wartime censorship; Hachshara - preparation for emigration to Palestine; and the aftermath of war.
The collection also includes letters that chronicle the post-war period (from August 1945), for example those from Alice's brother Egon in Amsterdam asking for basic food because "there is nothing". Other letters reveal Alice's agonising search for answers as to the fate of her sons. Juda Landau, a friend of Heinz', wrote, "Auschwitz was hell and I do not know what further happened to your son." A 1945 letter to her from an uncle, Sergeant Curtis Rosenberg, of the US Army Legal Division stationed in Berlin, informed her that there is no word of either Heinz or Rolf from the Berlin Jewish Community. Alice only received absolute confirmation of Heinz' death in 1947. She never learned Rolf's fate.
As sole survivor, Alice decided to join her brother Rudi in Sydney, arriving in 1948/9. Initially she worked in his haberdashery shop in Pitt Street. Alice was a talented musician and artist, playing the piano and violin. Some of her compositions have been donated to the Conservatorium of Music.
Production placeBerlin, Germany
Production date 1939 - 1941
Subjectsigns of life, families, victims, wartime family interactions, loved ones' contact, migrant experiences, working conditions
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Language
- German All letters translated by Sigrid Summers, 2013.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Helen and Hans Pfeiffer