The Holocaust Correspondence

Abstract

This chapter documents for the first time the extent of the trauma and tragedy experienced by Erich Fromm’s German Jewish family members and his many unsuccessful attempts to save them. It begins with a brief biographical overview of Fromm’s early life in Germany before presenting the unpublished letters. It divides the family correspondence into three parts: the first section presents the plight of Heinz Brandt, a Communist Party activist and cousin of Fromm’s who was sent first to a prison and then to a concentration camp; the second section presents the correspondence of Gertrud Brandt, Heinz’s mother, whose letters were written from the ghetto of Ostrow-Lubelski in southeast Poland; and the third section presents the letters of Fromm’s aunt in Berlin, Sophie Engländer. The letters reveal the powerful emotions of suffering, loss, and longing experienced by Fromm’s family members and give us a glimpse into what their daily lives were like up until their deportations and deaths. They also detail the tremendous strength and courage shown by Fromm’s aunts and shed light on the experience of German Jewish women in the unfolding catastrophe.