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Albert Gosschalk papers

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 1065-009

Collection Overview

Photographs, silver objects, and other papers of Albert Gosschalk, a Jewish resistance fighter during World War II from the Netherlands. Materials relate to the families of Gosschalk and his wife, Theodora "Doris" van Blankenstein Gosschalk and their lives before, during, and after World War II. Also included is a 1991 videocassette interview of Gosschalk about his experiences in the Netherlands during the war.

Dates

  • Creation: 1835-2008

Creator

Language of Material

Materials in English and Dutch

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Copyright Notice

The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Biographical Note

Albert Gosschalk was born in Wijhe, the Netherlands, in 1920. By 1923, he and his family had moved to Deventer, the Netherlands, where he was the only Jew in his school class. In 1939, after finishing school, he obtained an apprenticeship in the meatpacking business, in order to learn the family trade.

In 1940, after the German occupation of the Netherlands, Gosschalk went into hiding with his wife, Doris. After brief stays with several Dutch families willing to hide them for money, the couple moved to a small wooden cottage in the woods outside of Deventer. Gosschalk took part in the Dutch resistance movement. Both he and his wife were captured and arrested in January 1945 after a failed resistance effort to blow up a nearby railroad.

The Gosschalks spent the rest of the war imprisoned by the Nazis, first in a local jail and then at Westerbork concentration camp in the Netherlands. After the camp was liberated by the Allies in April 1945, Gosschalk was chosen to help prepare the camp to house imprisoned Dutch Nazis and assist in its operation. He served in this capacity for three months before returning to Deventer with his wife and infant daughter. The family eventually joined Gosschalk's brother in the United States in 1951 and settled in Charleston, South Carolina, around 1962.

Extent

0.25 linear feet (5 folders, 1 videocassette)

Abstract

Photographs, silver objects, and other papers of Albert Gosschalk, a Jewish resistance fighter during World War II from the Netherlands. Materials relate to the families of Gosschalk and his wife, Theodora "Doris" van Blankenstein Gosschalk and their lives before, during, and after World War II.

Collection Arrangement

Materials are described at the folder level.

Acquisitions Information

Materials donated in 2008 by Frieda Gosschalk Bernstein and Josine Gosschalk Reavis.

Related Material

Related materials in College of Charleston Special Collections include a curriculum package and resource guide for South Carolina voices: lessons from the Holocaust (Mss 1070, D804.3 .S34 1992). This documentary includes videotaped interviews with South Carolina Holocaust survivors, including Albert Gosschalk.

Processing Information

Processed by Rebecca McClure, March 2011.

Title
Inventory of the Albert Gosschalk Papers, 1835-2008
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by: Rebecca McClure; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rebecca McClure
Date
2011
Description rules
Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the processing of this collection and encoding of the finding aid.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections
College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424
(843) 953-8016
(843) 953-6319 (Fax)