Ester Ajzen Lewin family photographs

The Ester Ajzen Lewin family photograph collection consists of pre-war and post-war photographs of the Ester Ajzen and the Ajzen family of Chełm, Poland. The collection also includes photographs of the the Lewin family of Derazhnya, Ukraine; Ester Ajzen Lewin’s husband, Abram Lewin and his brother Misha Lewin. Both served as Soviet soldiers. Ester Lewin (born Estera Ajzen, 1919-) was born on October 5, 1919 in Chełm, Poland to Chaim Josef Ajzen and Necha Ajzen (née Schumacher). Ester had four sisters: Chaika Ajzen, Mania Ajzen, Malka Ajzen, and Ethel Ajzen. After finishing school, Ester worked at the Foto-Film Venus, a photography studio in Chełm. Following the German invasion of Poland, the Ajzen family fled to the Soviet zone. In January 1940, the family was deported to the Viatka labor camp in the Komi SSR. They were released in April 1941 and moved to Gorky. Her father, Chaim Josef Ajzen died on April 9, 1943. While living in Gorky, Ester met Abram Lewin, a Soviet Jewish soldier from Derazhnya, Ukraine. They married on married on February 8, 1944. After the war, Ester and Abram Lewin settled in Poland, until 1956 when they immigrated to the United States. The majority of the Ajzen family perished at Chełmno concentration camp.