Documents & Transcriptions
Key primary source documents, with original German or Polish text alongside English translations.
Marriage Certificate (Ketubah)
The Ketubah — the Jewish marriage contract — of Herman and Ester Freiman, dated 1945. Written in Aramaic using the standard Ashkenazic formula, handwritten on lined paper (typical of wartime and immediate postwar conditions). The document is complete and signed by two witnesses.
| Day | Shabbat (Saturday) — בְּשַׁבָּת |
| Hebrew year | 5705 (1944–1945) — שנת חמשת אלפים ושבע מאות וחמישה |
| Place | ואוואסושט — unidentified; Poland, 1945 (see note) |
| Groom | Herman Freiman · Hebrew: צְבִי הִירְשׁ (Tzvi Hirsch) |
| Bride | Ester · Hebrew: אֶסְתֵּר |
| Mohar | 100 zekukim of refined silver — מאה זקוקים כסף צרוף (standard Ashkenazic amount) |
| Witness 1 | צבי בן אליעזר זלמן — Tzvi ben Eliezer Zalman |
| Witness 2 | חיים בן אברהם — Chayim ben Avraham |
| Language | Aramaic (standard Ketubah formula) |
| Closing formula | ודבכל שריר וקים — "and all is valid and confirmed" |
Hebrew name: The Ketubah confirms Herman used the Ashkenazic double name Tzvi Hirsch (צבי הירש) — tzvi (Hebrew: deer/stag) paired with hirsch (its Yiddish equivalent from German). This is the only document in the archive to record his Hebrew name.
Place name: The wedding location is written ואוואסושט. Reading right to left (Hebrew direction) gives the phoneme sequence T-SH-O-S-A-W-W-A-W = "Tchosawwaw" — consistent with Częstochowa (Yiddish: Tshenstokhov), one of the largest CKŻP (Central Committee of Polish Jews) centres in 1945. In Galician Yiddish — the dialect Herman spoke — two documented sound shifts apply: the nasal "EN" → "O", and the guttural KH weakening to W/V, yielding "Tshosawwaw" from "Tshenstokhov." Częstochowa was a major transit and resettlement hub for Jewish survivors from eastern Galicia in 1945, and rabbinical marriages were actively organised there. Confirmation requires expert paleography of the original handwritten document.
Format: Handwritten on lined paper rather than a pre-printed form — typical of marriages conducted in displaced or transit communities immediately after the war.
German Restitution (Wiedergutmachung)
After emigrating to Israel, Herman pursued Wiedergutmachung (restitution/reparations) from West Germany for damages suffered during the Nazi persecution.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Restitution File Number | E.A. Stuttgart 11 672(o) |
| Attorney | Dr. Herbert Mannheim, Hajam Rd. 6, Mt. Carmel, Haifa |
| Power of Attorney Date | October 20, 1959 |
| Certificate Issued | February 26, 1960 (No. 413381) |
| Certificates Requested | Inhaftierungsbescheinigung · Aufenthaltsbescheinigung |
Ich, der/die unterzeichnete, Herman Freiman, wohnhaft in Kfar Ata-Giwat Ata/Israel, Hugo Mollerstr. 28, bevollmächtige hiermit Herrn Dr. Herbert Mannheim, Haifa/Israel, Hajam Rd. 6, Mt. Carmel, sämtliche Auskünfte u. Erkundigungen, die sich auf Entschädigungsansprüche wegen Schaden an Leben, Freiheit und Gesundheit für mich u. meine Familienangehörigen beziehen, von dem Internationalen Suchdienst des Roten Kreuzes in Arolsen (Waldeck) einzuziehen.
I, the undersigned, Herman Freiman, residing at Kfar Ata-Giwat Ata/Israel, Hugo Moller Street 28, hereby authorize Dr. Herbert Mannheim, Haifa/Israel, Hajam Road 6, Mt. Carmel, to obtain all information and inquiries relating to compensation claims for damages to life, liberty, and health for myself and my family members from the International Tracing Service of the Red Cross in Arolsen (Waldeck).
The central record in the Arolsen Archives for Herman Freiman. It summarizes his wartime imprisonment, postwar movements, and emigration.
Name: FREIMAN Herman od. FRAJMAN od. FREIMANN / Eltern: Feibel u. Shifra ROSEN / Geb.: 2.3.1905 in Boryslaw / Nat.: israel./poln. / 7.41-3.44 Gh. u. ZAL Boryslaw / 45-46 Polen / 46-48 DP.Lg.Ulm / 4.11.48 n.Israel m.'Negba' ausgew. / LA.f.Wg.Stgt. dch.Dr.H.Mannheim, Haifa
Name: FREIMAN Herman or FRAJMAN or FREIMANN / Parents: Feibel and Shifra ROSEN / Born: 2.3.1905 in Boryslaw / Nationality: Israeli/Polish / July 1941–March 1944 Ghetto and Forced Labor Camp Boryslaw / 1945–46 Poland / 1946–48 DP Camp Ulm / November 4, 1948 emigrated to Israel on 'Negba' / State Archive Stuttgart through Dr. H. Mannheim, Haifa
Über die Inhaftierung liegen keine Unterlagen vor. Abweichung: Geburtsdatum. Faivel = Feibel.
No documents exist regarding the concentration camp incarceration. Discrepancy: Birth date. Faivel = Feibel [same name — confirming the variants refer to the same person].
Herman and Ester appeared in the January 1947 alphabetical registry of Polish Jews compiled by the Central Committee of Polish Jews in Warsaw, while living in Bielawa.
CENTRALNY KOMITET ŻYDÓW POLSKICH, WARSZAWA, SIENNA 60 — WYKAZ ALFABETYCZNY ŻYDÓW POLSKICH, Lista Nr. 3, Lit. F.
Frajman Herman, 1910, Fajwel, Szyfra Borysław, Bielawa Wolności 131
(Name · Birth year · Father · Mother · Hometown · Address)