Fund and Kerner families papers

Esther Tinka Fund (1906-2004) and her brother, Chaim Charles Fund (1908-2003), were born in a small town near Stanislavov, Poland, an area that became part of Ukraine after World War II. They were raised in a kosher home and spoke Polish and Yiddish. Recognizing the need to escape antisemitism in Poland, both siblings sought education in other countries, Charles at the University of Bordeaux where he studied engineering, and Tinka at medical school in Prague to study dentistry.

Tinka Fund graduated from dental school and opened a practice in Prague. In 1938 or 1939, as the situation in Poland deteriorated, she returned to be with her parents and continued to work, which provided them with some protection. During a roundup of Jews in the area, Tinka was separated from her parents; she never saw them again. Tinka hid in the barn of a sympathetic farmer for thirteen months until late in the war, when she left hiding and joined the Czech Army as a doctor. While in the army, she met Miroslav "Mirek" Kerner.

Mirek Kerner (1909-2002) was born in Zeravice, Czechoslovakia, where he was raised by his two older sisters, Elsa and Ruza, after the death of his parents. While attending law school at Charles University in Prague, he met and married his first wife, Judita. When the war began, he left his family behind in Prague and traveled to London, where he joined the Czech Army in exile. His wife and sisters did not survive the war.

After the war, Kerner worked for the Czech government and married Tinka Fund. By the late 1940s, the couple immigrated to the United States to escape the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. Tinka Kerner attended dental school at Tufts University in Boston, where she subsequently opened a dental practice, and Mirek Kerner studied to be a social worker. He also remained active in Czech cultural groups in Boston and worked as a spokesman for the United Nations Relief Agency (UNRA).