The letter · about 20 minutes
Read Dolf’s appeal to his mother in German and in Rabbi Dr. Esther Jilovsky’s English translation. Discuss his choice of words, and include the translator’s credit when quoting the English.
Reichenbach Family Archive · For teachers
For teachers · a 45-minute path
Teaching with letters, photographs and records
A 45-minute lesson built around Dolf’s 1938 letter, the deportation of three relatives in April 1942, and a surviving family object. Students compare what each source reveals with what remains unknown.
The printable English packet includes five source cards, discussion questions, an optional private reflection and a 90-minute extension.
The hour
Move through three existing records
One day · about 15 minutes
Kurt Reichenbach, Paula Wollenberg and Hans Wollenberg were ordered to assemble for deportation on 12 April 1942. Their transport reached Warsaw on 16 April. No later individual record has been found. Ask students which questions the documents answer and which remain open.
One object · about 10 minutes
Choose one: the store hanger or Fritz’s 1938 forced-sale deed for Breite Straße 7, which states that the seller is Jewish. Examine the image and its object record.
Source boundaries
What not to ask the class
- Do not ask students to decide Martha Reichenbach’s place of death. The Stolperstein and the Berlin transport list do not agree.
- Do not ask them to name a camp for Kurt, Paula, or Hans.
- Living descendants are not a research assignment. Vernon Jacob is living; current American addresses are out of bounds.
The Camps reading room shows how the archive names a place or prisoner number without extending a person’s record beyond its source. Its Warsaw section still stops with the 16 April 1942 arrival.
How to cite
Keep the source with the sentence
Cite the letter page the class actually read: https://www.reichenbacharchive.org/documents/letter — German source, English by Rabbi Dr. Esther Jilovsky. Letter · DOC-LETTER-1938.
Teaching approach
Discussion and personal reflection
The packet offers questions for discussion, not a prescribed emotional response. Students should not be asked to disclose family trauma. The lesson was prepared by the family archive and has no institutional sponsor.