Balbine Schwarz Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 1107

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Content Description

News clippings, correspondence, a brochure, an invitation, and photos from a Mosaic Ten Commandments art piece, which was installed at the St. Avold American Cemetery in Lorraine, France, document the work done by local Houstonian and Holocaust survivor, Balbine Schwarz, who deeded the artwork as a gift to thank the Allied Military for helping her native country of Germany during World War II. The collection spans the years 1895 to 2019.

Forms part of the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives.

Dates

Creation: 1895 - 2019

Creator

Schwarz, Balbine (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the Balbine Schwarz Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

The Woodson Research Center use policy is that researchers assume sole responsibility for any infringement of privacy, literary rights, copyrights, or other rights arising from their use of the archival materials. In addition to any restrictions placed by donors, certain kinds of archival materials are restricted for the life of the creator plus 50 years. These materials include, but are not limited to, student grades, transcripts, and any job applications or recommendations.

Biographical / Historical

Balbine Schwarz grew up in German-occupied Posen (today Poznań, Poland) and emigrated to the United States in 1924 with her mother, Minna, sister Hulda, and brother Israel. They settled in Houston, where Balbine and Hulda worked for South Pacific Railroad. After retirement, Balbine became a mosaic artist. In 1960, Balbine petitioned the U.S. Representative Albert Thomas of the 8th district of Houston to get a piece of her artwork donated to a World War II memorial. She created a mosaic tablet of the Ten Commandments in order to thank those American soldiers who died in WWII and to show her appreciation of her adopted country, America. Representative Thomas passed on her request to the American Battle Monuments Commission, and they agreed to install her artwork at the St. Avold Memorial Cemetery in France. The piece is still on display today at St. Avold. In 1980, Balbine and Hulda were invited to the groundbreaking of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Documents were donated by Russel Weil. Balbine Schwarz was Russell's great aunt.Russell has been a docent at the Holocaust Museum Houston for many years in honor of his great aunts, Balbine and Hulda, and the 64 members of his family who were lost in the Holocaust. https://thebuzzmagazines.com/people/russell-weil

Extent

.10 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of one box containing letters, photographs, and newspaper articles about Holocaust survivor Balbine Schawrz who created a mosaic for the Holocaust memorial St. Avold Memorial Cemetery in France. The collection spans the years 1895 to 2019.