Wolff (Herbert) family papers, 1886-2005

Herbert Wolff was born on June 27, 1929 in Berlin, Germany and died in 2006. His father’s name was Gustav (February 9, 1886, Berlin – October 5, 1958, Berlin), and his mother’s name was Hedwig Wetzlar (b. January 5, 1896, Furth, Germany). In a birth certificate made for her on December 14, 1938, Hedwig was forced to adopt the middle name of “Sara.”

The collection contains birth certificates for Herbert Wolff and various birth, marriage, and death certificates for Wolff’s parents; his parents’ siblings; his grandparents; his grandparents’ siblings; and for his great grandparents. It also has documents attesting to the service of his maternal uncle, Theodor Wetzlar, in the German military during World War I (one of the documents is an award granting him an Honorary Cross for Frontline Soldiers). Another document attests to Theodor’s membership in the Jewish Community of Shanghai. The collection also contains photographs of the tombstones of various family members; and photocopies of family trees and birth certificates. In addition, the collection includes a poem written about Herbert Wolff, entitled, “Our Uncle Herb”; a reminiscence written about Herbert Wolff after Herbert Wolff had died; a videocassette containing a two-hour long oral history interview of Herbert Wolff done by the Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project (dated March 23, 2005); an undated oral history of Herbert Wolff done on an audio cassette; four audio cassettes containing an undated oral history interview of a friend of Herbert Wolff, Peter Parker; and a dvd containing the documentary, Reconcile: Germans, Jews and the Holocaust, Childhood Memories, Post-War Lives (a documentary done by Mariel McEwan and Sergio Palermo, 2004). The collection also contains various medals, pins, and other awards.