World War II, Anti-Semitism, and Migration

The documents Camilla Gottlieb secured in her purse tell the story of her crisis, imprisonment, and survival.

Contemporary U.S. immigration laws impeded the Gottliebs and other potential refugees with restrictive country-of-origin quotas and age limitations. Because Hermann’s birthplace was Romania, both he and Camilla, as his wife, came under a small Romanian quota, and were refused entrance to America.

The papers Camilla saved over the pre-war years, during World War II, and in the chaotic postwar period document a dark and turbulent time in Europe. They serve as a record of the events that she, and many victims like her, endured and witnessed.