"Is There Any Possibility That They Might Have Remained Alive?": The George Barlaz Papers and the Search for Family After the Holocaust

Authors

Jacob Kahn-Samuelson, Gettysburg CollegeFollow

Class Year

2025

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Fall 2024

Department 1

History

Abstract

The paper explores the topic of American Jews searching for their families after the Holocaust. The paper uses the George Barlaz Papers, to argue that after the Holocaust Jews used Jewish organizations to search for family. Charity organizations like HIAS, Jewish newspapers like The Forward and various Landsmanshaftn were all used by George Barlaz to look for his family. From the search for family, new relationships were formed between searchers and those who were helping them find their family. George Barlaz developed a strong friendship with Moses Feinblüt who helped him search for his family and connect him with the sole survivor, his sister-in-law Roza Braun. Though Barlaz and Braun had a strained relationship at time, they genuinely cared for each other and Barlaz sought to help Braun in any way that he could. The papers make clear the guilt felt by Barlaz for his failure to protect his family from the Holocaust by bringing them to America. Barlaz felt a mixture of hope, dread, and dejection in the search for his family.

Comments

Written for HIST 428: Letters and Letter Writing

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Kahn-Samuelson, Jacob, ""Is There Any Possibility That They Might Have Remained Alive?": The George Barlaz Papers and the Search for Family After the Holocaust" (2024). Student Publications. 1138.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/1138