Albert Gosschalk papers
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
- Gosschalk, Albert, 1920-1991 (Person)
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.
Processing Information
Processed by Rebecca McClure, March 2011.
Subject
- Gosschalk, Albert, 1920-1991 (Person)
- Gosschalk, Theodora van Blankenstein, 1922-2001 (Person)
Source
- Bernstein, Frieda Gosschalk (Donor, Person)
- Reavis, Josine Gosschalk (Donor, Person)
Genre / Form
- Black-and-white negatives
- Black-and-white slides
- Coin silver
- Facsimiles (reproductions)
- Photocopies
- Pillboxes (containers)
- Silverware
- Videocassettes
Geographic
Topical
- 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
Special Collections
College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424
(843) 953-8016
(843) 953-6319 (Fax)