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Letters and birthday card sent  by Hochster family members in Roth, Germany to Erwin Hochster in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1937.

In 1937, a few months after Erwin Hochster fled from Nazi Germany to South Africa, his infant daughter Marion celebrated her birthday.  Erwin’s parents, sisters, and brother in Germany were still able to send letters out of the country.  When this birthday card arrived from Erwin’s sister, Ilse, Erwin still had hope that he could help rest of his family escape.   Only one other member of the Hochster family, Erwin’s sister Trude, survived the Holocaust. She left Germany on a kindertransport in 1939.   Ilse was forced into slave labor and then deported to Auschwitz/Birkenau, where she was gassed.

On loan from Marion Solovei and family

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