Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger

Gisela, born in April 1885 in Mistelbach, Niederösterreich (Lower Austria), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the eldest of Siegmund and Berta S. Jellinek’s six children. Gisela’s sense and expectations of the world were affected by her growing up in that old Empire, as well as by the Jewish communal, spiritual and musical involvement of her father and both of her parents’ strong personalities.

Gisela was formally educated in a high level girl’s school (Heure Tochter). She enjoyed playing piano and particularly loved the music of Beethoven. While at school, Gisela came to know Marianne Robicek. Later Marianne, living in Yugoslavia, was the secret conduit for the letters to and from Palestine, Austria and Czechoslovakia (after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia).

When Gisela was thirty-seven years old, she married forty-five-year-old Leopold (Poldi) Schlesinger, whom her niece, Gisella Nadja would later recall as “thoughtful, polite, dignified and competent.” They lived together in Stockerau ( in Lower Austria, between Hollabrunn, and Vienna), until their home and leather goods business were confiscated by the Nazis soon after the Anschluss. They moved into Gisela’s parents’ home/synagogue in Oberhollabrunn. Gisela took personal care of her elderly parents there and after September 1938, when they were all forcibly expelled to Vienna. She continued to struggle devotedly to care for her elderly parents as best she could. Gisela did not want to abandon her parents and was therefore extremely conflicted about the prospect of escaping without them. Gisela did not have any children of her own and was closely bonded to her nieces, especially the daughters of her brother Hugo, as is strongly evidenced in her letters.

Date	Author(s) / Origin of Letter	Recipient(s) / Relationship to Author(s) / Destination of Letter	Summary
August 6, 1938	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Hollabrunn, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	This letter reveals the persecution that Gisela, the rest of the extended Jellinek family and their Jewish friends are experiencing. The most significant disclosures are: that she and her husband received “nothing” for the forced sale of their store, that they had to pay 350 RM, that they and all of the family are now very poor, and that several relatives and friends have emigrated from Austria. Gisela also expresses strong fear for the safety of her niece, Gisella Nadja, in British Mandate Palestine.
August 8, 1938	Max Jellinek Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Siegmund Jellinek Berta Schafer Jellinek [Oberhollabrunn, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of MJ and GJS, granddaughter of SJ and BSJ) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Gisella Nadja’s Uncle Max and Aunt Gisela write brief, but strong, telling statements, such as “Everyone wants to leave but cannot.” Grandparents Siegmund and Berta wish Gisella Nadja God’s blessing and protection.
August 9, 1938	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Karl Jellinek [Vienna, Austria] Hugo Jellinek - inserted brief comments in the margins of Gisela J. S.'s letter, before he passed it on to Gisella Nadja J. [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Hugo Jellinek (brother of GJS and KJ) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia] Gisella Nadja Jellinek (daughter of HJ, niece of GJS and KJ) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Gisela, her husband, Poldi, their family members and neighbors are struggling with the Nazi regime’s anti-Jewish persecution, such as the forced, demeaning take-overs of their businesses and apartments. In her long, detailed letter, we mainly read of Gisela’s anguished responses to events, as well as her practical efforts to help her nieces, siblings, cousins and parents cope with the new harsh reality. Gisela also reports on her attempts to maintain some semblance of the old order and values, such as her intent to obtain her old piano for daily practice with her young niece Anna. Karl’s shorter letter contains equally powerful, ominous signs concerning the “unsustainable” situation for him and relatives in Vienna. The significant good news in both of these letters is about Karl’s receipt of requisite affidavits from the USA, as well as a Merit Certificate for admission to Mandate Palestine, Gustav Jellinek and Miron Nadel’s emigration prospects, and the receipt of Gisella Nadja Jellinek’s letters from Mandate Palestine.
September 5, 1938	Siegmud Jellinek Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Hollabrunn, Austria]	Hugo Jellinek (son of SJ, sister of GJS) Berta Jellinek (grandaughter of SJ, niece of GJS) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Siegmund received a document from his son, Hugo, that grants him permission to enter a town (likely, his birthplace of Kanitz) in Czechoslovakia. He hopes to obtain a doctor's certificate that may increase his chances of procuring a permit to exit from Austria. Siegmund also considers a questionable offer of assistance and hopes for the transfer of his pension to Kanitz. Lastly, Siegmund reports on having managed the sale of Hugo's merchandise and that Anna will bring the sale proceeds with her when she reunites with her father, (Hugo) in Brünn. Gisela feels that she is losing her calm, courage, ability to pray and her belief in being rescued. Gisela, her husband and her parents are being expelled from her parents' long-standing home/synagogue in Hollabrunn, and Gisela is in the midst of difficult preparations for their forced move to Vienna. Gisela describes strong emotional reactions by neighbors in the face of their evictions.
September 9, 1938	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Hollabrunn, Austria]	Hugo Jellinek (brother of GJS) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Gisela reveals the toll of Nazi anti-Jewish persecution on the Jelinek family, their friends and neighbors. Some examples she reports are: the take-over of her husband Leopold’s business, the confiscation of every Jewish person’s home, including their own, in Stockerau and the need to support her young cousin, Willy Jellinek, who is imprisoned in Dachau. In addition, she, her husband, her parents and all Jewish residents of Hollabrunn are being forcibly expelled to Vienna. Gisela must prepare everything for her family’s rushed move, as well as help Hugo’s youngest daughter/her niece, Anna, move from Hollabrunn to Brünn to join Hugo.
October 18, 1938	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Max Jellinek [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS and MJ) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Gisela first gives mostly positive details about the family, such as the improved circumstances of her brother Hugo and Hugo’s younger daughters (Nadja’s father and sisters, resp.) in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Gisela’s brother Karl’s receipt of an affidavit and the satisfactory adjustment to living in an apartment in Vienna by Gisela’s parents as well as by herself. It is only in the second half of this letter that Gisela voices personal complaints at having had to move ‘three times already since March’ and about the ‘terrible’ most recent forced move out of Hollabrunn. Still, Gisela voices hope for an eventual family reunion and for the continued good health of everyone in the family. The overall adapting, coping and almost accepting tone and contents of this letter may reflect Gisela’s personal optimism and faith, as well as her lack of knowledge of and ability to grasp what the current persecution portended for even worse conditions to come. Gisela’s fear of the Nazi censors and her desire to shield Nadja from the entire dire truth may also have influenced her writing. Max’s pithy greeting is one of encouragement and inspiration for Nadja and her comrades’ Zionist endeavors.
November 4, 1938	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Hugo Jellinek (brother of GJS) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Gisela urges Hugo to register for an “illegal transport” to Mandate Palestine to join his daughter, Gisella Nadja and “. . . bring us all to Palestine.” She gives him detailed advice on how to succeed in getting on the next boat, such as using their brother, Karl and other Zionist leaders as references, and stating that he has agricultural skills, as well as being musical and well educated. Gisela hopes for a reunion of the family in Palestine, — one that was tragically never to happen.
January 12, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Berta Jellinek (additional hand-written greetings) [Vienna, Austria]	Hugo Jellinek (brother of GJS) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Gisela writes mostly about her close family members’ emigration, including applications for passports, affidavits, visas and “illegal” transports to Mandate Palestine. She also describes her efforts to help her nephew, Willy Jellinek get out of Dachau, as well as her attempts to settle unjust claims in regard to vandalism during the Kristallnacht pogrom. Although Gisela expresses strong worry about her siblings, nieces and nephews, she does not even hint at her actions or concerns for her own, her spouse’s or her parents’ emigration.
March 5, 1939 (Typed copy of Karl Jellinek’s speech delivered on board the Dutch ship “Veendam”)	Karl Jellinek [on ship to US from Holland] (Probably typed by Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger) [Vienna, Austria] Theresa (Resl) Spitz (additional hand-written greetings) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Hugo Jellinek (brother of KJ) Theresa (Resl) Spitz (friend of HJ) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia] Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of KJ) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Karl Jellinek’s impassioned speech opening a Purim celebration held on board a ship to the US from Holland. Karl expresses strong belief in the eventual rescue of all of his relatives and of all persecuted Jews in Europe, and in the need for unity and cooperation of all Jews in the building of the Jewish homeland in British Mandate Palestine. Hand-written greetings were added after the text of Karl’s speech, by Hugo’s friend, 'Resl' Spitz.
March 1939 - May 6, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Loving, worried, long letter, giving personal news of herself, close family and friends, written over an almost two-month period. News of others’ departures/escapes, Gisela’s own optimistic start of English lessons, her sending of clothing and photo mementos. Expressions of despair: “Prisoners forever???”, “Why were we all ripped apart? This disaster will never be undone.”
June 12, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	The following four examples, among many in this letter’s varied news briefs and admonitions, reveal a lot about what Gisela could not know nor fully understand about the circumstances of her family members who had escaped and were refugees around the world, nor of her own and her trapped family members’ imminent, murderous futures: a) Gisela worries about the shipping to her brother-in-law (who is now safely residing in Australia) of his photographic machines that were seized when his Viennese photo studio was attacked in the November Kristallnacht pogrom; b) she is also anxious about how she will find the means to pay the portion of the huge “Jew Tax” imposed by the Nazi regime after this pogrom; c) she rejects the idea of emigration to Australia because “. . .it is too far away;” and d) she warns Gisella Nadja of (unnamed) perils, most likely involved with continuation of her niece’s underground resistance activities against British control. It is interesting to compare this letter that Gisela wrote in Vienna, with the letter that contains a powerful ideological and political statement, written by her brother, Hugo Jellinek in Brünn, on the exact same day in June 1939.
June 21, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Anna Jellinek Nadel (sister of GJS) [Sydney, Australia]	Gisela worrries over her father’s angry confrontational response to a Viennese office clerk who had disrespectfully addressed him. Gisela also writes of other family and indicative news, e.g., a) Jews now prohibited from entering the main park in Vienna; b) she and others taking baking classes to help prepare for their immigration.
July 25-27, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Anna Jellinek Nadel (sister of GJS) Miron Nadel (brother-in-law) [Sydney, Australia]	Gisela tells of her heavy sadness, as well as the intense frustration, stress and disappointment that she experienced in dealing with the Nazi tax authorities. She had made arduous efforts on behalf of her sister, Anna and her brother-in-law, Miron, to avoid paying the “Jew Tax” that had been levied by the Nazi regime on Miron, along with all of the other Jewish victims of the November 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom. She had also sought compensation for Miron’s looted photographic equipment. Gisela writes about her husband, Leopold’s attempt to console her after her failed ordeal. Finally, Gisela transmits the heartening news about Hugo’s new relationship with Fritzi Fränkel and provides Anna with seven varied recipes, that include quick yeast dough, Hunter’s Roast and Nut Cake.
July 27, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) (via Marianne Robicek) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Gisela expresses loving 19th birthday wishes to her niece and longing to be together when the “sun will shine for us again.” Gisela also writes about possibilities for her own, as well as for her brother Siegfried’s emigration from Vienna. In addition, Gisela provides positive news about her siblings, Karl and Anna, but negative news about her brother Max, all of whom have managed to escape from Europe. Lastly, Gisela reports at length on the letters she has received from her brother, Hugo (Gisella Nadja’s father), in which he wrote about his happiness stemming from his relationship with Fritzi Fränkel. He described Fritzi as loving, competent, caring and generous, even to his daughter Berta. Hugo has moved into Fritzi’s apartment in Brünn and will be engaged to her on August 15.
October 7, 1939	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Martha H. Jellinek [Vienna, Austria]	Karl Jellinek (brother of GJS and brother-in-law of MHJ) [New York City, USA]	Gisela’s letter describes how she and the Jellinek family members still in Vienna are continuing to cope with the increasingly difficult circumstances, including: the struggle to live with the Nazi’s anti-Jewish persecutory measures and deprivations, as well as the efforts required to overcome all of the barriers to emigration, such as securing affidavits and the money for ship tickets. The opening lines beseeching Karl to write to her, show the importance that correspondence with her siblings and nieces has for Gisela. Gisela’s concern with relatives continues throughout the letter, e.g., her passing on to Karl, news of their brother Hugo’s forthcoming wedding.
November 1939 - January 1940 (Est.)	Hugo Jellinek Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Fritzi Fränkel (Hugo’s new wife) Anna Jellinek (Hugo’s youngest daughter) Heinz Rosenzweig (Fritzi’s nephew) [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Gisela Nadja Jellinek (daughter of HJ, niece of GJS, sister of AJ, stepdaughter of FF, cousin of HR, by marriage of HJ to FF) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine, via Marianne Robicek in Yugoslavia.]	This letter corroborates that the persecution of Jews in Brünn had still not progressed far by late 1939 or early 1940. Among the optimistic statements that are especially poignant in light of the writers’ tragic fates, are: Hugo’s praise of the good life Fritzi is providing him and of the blossoming of his daughters, Berta and Anna, his citation of what God said to Mephistofeles in Goethe’s Faust, news of Berta’s preparations to join Gisella Nadja soon in Mandate Palestine and the plans for Anna, Hugo and Fritzi to come later. Hugo and Anna also express deep love for Gisella Nadja and great joy at having received mail from her.
January 12, 1940	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisela Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) [New York City, USA]	Gisela expresses joy at receiving a letter from her niece, Gisella Nadja, and discusses how much she values incoming letters from her dispersed siblings and nieces, as well as the letters that she wants to write. Gisela also reports varied good and bad news of her refugee and displaced family members and of former and current neighbors. Most significant and poignant, are her news of a) the late October forced deportation of her brother and Gisella Nadja’s uncle, Siegfried Jellinek, to the Lublin area of Poland and Siegfried’s subsequent removal to Lviv in the Soviet zone, b) the new, happy marriage in Brünn, of her brother and Gisella Nadja’s father, Hugo Jellinek, and c) the birth of a son, Bernhard, to her brother and sister-in law/Nadja’s especially beloved, uncle and aunt, Karl and Karla Jellinek in New York City. Gisela admits to struggling alone with difficult errands and housework. She notes that she gave away her piano and that it is “. . . not quiet enough for [playing] that anyway.” Still, she writes that she and her parents remain well and retain hope for “better times” and for all of the extended family to “see each other again.”
February 2-4, 1940	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Leopold Schlesinger Martha H. Jellinek [Vienna, Austria]	Karl Jellinek (brother of GJS, brother-in-law of LS and MHJ) Kreindel/Karla E. Jellinek (sister-in-law of GJS, LS, and MHJ) [New York City, USA]	Gisela is deeply conficted about escaping to the US with her husband, Leopold, and leaving her elderly parents behind in Vienna. Gisela also describes being weary of all the hard work involved in caring for her parents and keeping up with the family correspondence. Leopold writes of the joy and gratitude he feels for the "redemptive" news of a forthcoming affidavit (and possibly, ship tickets) from Karl and Karla. Leopold continues his somewhat resigned, philiosophical and cryptic writing concerning his own emigration, as well as the emigration struggles and hopes of his brother, brothers and sisters-in-law, and members of Karla's family. Martha H. Jellinek's hurried letter requests specific assistance from Karl regarding payment and receipt of ship tickets for her family's escape from Austria. Martha explains the urgency of having the ship tickets in her possession.
March 1940	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (niece of GJS) (via Marianne Robicek) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	This letter gives detailed personal news of Gisela’s and her parents’ difficult circumstances during the previous harsh winter, as well as updated information garnered from intra-family correspondence about the varied situations of her then globally dispersed siblings and friends. Some of the letters that Gisela received led her to believe that several of her close relatives could soon escape to America, revealing that Gisela did not and could not know that she and almost all of these same relatives would be murdered in the near future.
April 1, 1940	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (sister of BJ) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine] via secret conduit: Marianne Robiček in Yugoslavia	Much of this letter is concerned with Gisela’s unhappiness about not receiving news and items in the mail, which included mainly affidavits not yet received from Karl Jellinek in New York City, as well as missed vital news from family members who escaped Europe to different countries and continents, especially longed for from niece, Gisella Nadja in then - Mandate Palestine. There is some optimistic family news however, about the expected arrival of the affidavits for the family of Siegfried Jellinek, as well as for Gisela’s husband Poldi. Gisela also reports, that to her surprise, Karl Jellinek is doing well at a job selling costume jewelry and belts, Karla Jellinek is continuing to work at ‘her uncle’s’ bank and that Karla’s sister, Clara Anna E. Bertisch and her family have recently arrived in the US from Vienna.
May 2, 1941	Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger [Vienna, Austria]	Karl and Karla Jellinek (brother/sister-in-law of GJS) [New York City, USA]	Gisela continues to write about details of family correspondence and about dealing with a ‘machine matter,’ which is likely connected with the theft of her brother-in-law, Miron Nadel’s photographic printer on the night of the November 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom. There is news of the successful surgery her brother, Hugo, had in Brünn, and a description of the worries that she and Hugo’s two younger daughters had about the surgery. The postcard reports that Mathilde, Karla’s mother, is urgently learning English and that Hugo longs for good news from his eldest daughter, Gisella Nadja. There is a loving greeting from Mathilde.
June 1-5, 1941 (Est.)	Berta Schafer Jellinek Gisela Jellinek Schlesinger Leopold Schlesinger Siegmund Jellinek [Vienna, Austria] Hugo Jellinek Fritzi Fränkel [Brünn, Czechoslovakia]	Gisella Nadja Jellinek (granddaughter of BSJ and SJ, niece of GJS and LS, daughter of HJ, stepdaughter of FF) [Rishon Le Zion, British Mandate Palestine]	Sad, final messages from each of the letter writers, including from Gisella Nadja's own father. Each close relative seems to try to reassure him/herself and Gisella Nadja of his/her fate and expresses love and yearning to be together again.