Object numberM2003/021:005
DescriptionSmall, beige cloth bound, hard covered photo album, brown cardboard pages inter leavened with onion paper bearing a spider web design. An inscription on the inside fron cover reads "Unserem lieben Vati Marz 1939" (to our dear father March 1939) Contains family photos. One photo was found inside loose (M2003/021:005a) depicts a formal dinner party with approximately 18 people. Note on back says it is an engagement party. Another image in the album shows an older man, presumably her father, walking down a street with a Nazi banner in the background. Another image of intererst is of the Alt Neu Synagogue in Prague.
This photo album forms part of the overall documentation of Charlotte Lutufmen's life and family, both before and after world war two. These pictures are relevant in the context of 'the world that was' i.e. Jewish life in Europe prior to the holocaust. These images reflect the lives of middle-class German Jews.
Part of a collection of 168 letters, postcards, documents, photographs and restitution claims belonging to Charlotte Lutufmen (nee Ostertag), born in Hannover, Germany on 3 April 1908 to Alfred and Gertrud Ostertag (nee Callomon). Charlotte was engaged to Max Loewenstein before the war. He moved to Turkey, changed his name to Mahir Lutufmen, converted to Islam, and obtained Turkish citizenship while working for a Dutch tobacco company. Charlotte was unable to obtain a permit to leave Germany and marry her fiancé. In December 1941, age 33, she was deported to Riga Ghetto. In September 1943 she was taken to do forced labour. Then in August 1944, she was deported to Kaiserwald. One month later, she was deported to Stutthof concentration camp and then to Sofienwalde from October 1944 to February 1945. Charlotte lost all her toes to frostbite during the death march back to Germany. After the war, she and Max were reunited. They married in Suelbeck, Germany, in 1947. Charlotte was 39 and Max was 45 years old. She moved to Turkey with him. A few years later they immigrated to Australia where she became an Australian citizen in 1955. Despite her impaired mobility that worsened as she aged, she made something of her life. When she retired in her late 60s she went to TAFE to get the matriculation she was deprived of in Germany and then went on to Macquarie University in her 70s, where she graduated with a BA in her early 80s – the oldest graduate at the time.
This photo album forms part of the overall documentation of Charlotte Lutufmen's life and family, both before and after world war two. These pictures are relevant in the context of 'the world that was' i.e. Jewish life in Europe prior to the holocaust. These images reflect the lives of middle-class German Jews.
Part of a collection of 168 letters, postcards, documents, photographs and restitution claims belonging to Charlotte Lutufmen (nee Ostertag), born in Hannover, Germany on 3 April 1908 to Alfred and Gertrud Ostertag (nee Callomon). Charlotte was engaged to Max Loewenstein before the war. He moved to Turkey, changed his name to Mahir Lutufmen, converted to Islam, and obtained Turkish citizenship while working for a Dutch tobacco company. Charlotte was unable to obtain a permit to leave Germany and marry her fiancé. In December 1941, age 33, she was deported to Riga Ghetto. In September 1943 she was taken to do forced labour. Then in August 1944, she was deported to Kaiserwald. One month later, she was deported to Stutthof concentration camp and then to Sofienwalde from October 1944 to February 1945. Charlotte lost all her toes to frostbite during the death march back to Germany. After the war, she and Max were reunited. They married in Suelbeck, Germany, in 1947. Charlotte was 39 and Max was 45 years old. She moved to Turkey with him. A few years later they immigrated to Australia where she became an Australian citizen in 1955. Despite her impaired mobility that worsened as she aged, she made something of her life. When she retired in her late 60s she went to TAFE to get the matriculation she was deprived of in Germany and then went on to Macquarie University in her 70s, where she graduated with a BA in her early 80s – the oldest graduate at the time.
Production placeGermany
SubjectPre-war life, families, survivors, world that was
Object namephoto albums
Dimensions
- length: 137.00 mm
width: 95.00 mm
height: 17.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Annette Brett