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Inventory of the Fund and Kerner Families Papers, 1976-1995
Inventory of the Fund and Kerner Families Papers, 1976-1995
Descriptive Summary
| Abstract: | The collection consists of photographs, postcards, clippings, memoirs, and other papers relating to the Fund and Kerner families, whose members immigrated to the United States from Poland and Czechoslovakia after World War II. |
| Title: | Fund and Kerner families papers |
| Creator: | Fund, Claire |
| Date(s): | 1929-1997 |
| Extent: | 0.25 linear feet (8 folders) |
| Repository: | Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries 66 George Street Charleston, SC 29424 Phone: (843) 953-8016 Fax: (843) 953-6319 URL: http://archives.library.cofc.edu |
| Call Number: | Mss 1065-052 |
| Language of Material: | Materials in English, Czech, and German |
Biographical Note
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).
Collection Overview
The collection consists of photographs, postcards, clippings, memoirs, and other papers relating to the Fund and Kerner families, whose members immigrated to the United States from Poland and Czechoslovakia after World War II.
Collection Arrangement
Materials are described at the folder level.
Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person, family, or organization, by topical subject, by place, and by types of material.Names
- Fund family
- Kerner family
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Holocaust survivors
- World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance--Czechoslovakia
Places
- Czechoslovakia--emigration and immigration
- Poland
Types of Material
- Black-and-white negatives
- Black-and-white photographs
- Black-and-white slides
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Photocopies
- Postcards
- Typescripts
Related Resources
Related Material
Related materials in College of Charleston Special Collections include an oral history interview with Claire Fund (Mss 1035-304) available in the Lowcountry Digital Library.
Inventory
Included are Mirek Kerner's 1948 Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party membership card and photocopies of the 1943 orders transferring Elsa, Ruza, and Judita Kornerova to Auschwitz. Notes from field researcher Karen Tannenbaum's discussions with donor Claire Fund, daughter of Charles Fund, are also included.
Negatives and slides of the photographs in folder 2. Also includes digital images on DVD.
Includes postcard in Czech to Mirek and Tinka Kerner showing Zeravice, Czechoslovakia. Also includes a copy of a postcard showing a Polish village similar to Stanislavov, Poland.
Clippings in English, Czech, and German, mostly relating to the Czech military.
Typescript written by Mirek Kerner.
Photocopied excerpts from the book The Jews of Czechoslovakia which mention Mirek Kerner.
Photocopied memoir of Mirek Kerner published in Memoirs of World War II.
Administrative Information
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Fund and Kerner families papers, College of Charleston Libraries, Charleston, SC, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Materials were donated in 2013 by Claire Fund.
Processing Information
Processed by Rebecca McClure, October 2013.
Encoded by Rebecca McClure, October 2013.
Reviewed, edited, and uploaded by Martha McTear, December 2013.
