Werner Siegbert Oster collection

Werner Siegbert Oster (1916-1988) was born on 15 October 1916 in Westerburg, Germany to Ferdinand (b. 1881) and Rosa (née Ullmann, b. 1891) Oster. He had one sister, Gisela Ingeborg (b. 1926). The family lived in Boppard, Germany were Ferdinand worked as a butcher. Werner was imprisoned in Dachau following Kristallnacht and released in February 1939. He immigrated to the United States in May 1939 aboard the SS Washington. He settled in Portland, Oregon and married Ann Goldfoot (1912-1972) in 1940. They had five daughters: Harriett, Darlene, Frances, Rose, and Sandra. Werner's parents and sister all perished during the Holocaust. The collection consists of correspondence of the Oster family of Boppard, Germany. Included are letters sent to Werner Oster, who immigrated to the United States in 1939, from his parents Ferdinand and Rosa Oster and sister Gisela Oster in Boppard; letters to Werner from “Aunt Alice and Uncle Ernst" in Westerburg, Germany; and letters from Rosa and Ferdinand Oster to Elma Katz in Brussels, Belgium.