Brenda and David Huss papers

Consists of correspondence in Yiddish and photographs sent by Meyer and Esther Miller of the United States to Chaya Bruche and Dovid (later Brenda and David) Huss in the Dieburg DP camp. After the war Brenda and David Huss mistakenly contacted the Millers searching for relatives in the United States. Though they were not relatives, the Millers befriended and assisted Brenda and David while they were living in Germany as displaced persons. Also included are contemporary translations and biographical information provided by the donor's son. Brenda Huss (born Chaya Bruche Fettner, 1926-2018) was born on 8 February 1926 in Horodenka, Poland (Horodenka, Ukraine) to Efroim (1885-1941) and Idel (née Silber, d. 1927) Fettner. Brenda had five siblings, brothers Isador (1914-2004), Nachman (1918-2002), Leon (1920-1983), and Feivl (1927-1942), and a sister, Rivka (1923-1942). Brenda and her siblings were raised by their widowed father who worked as a carpenter. During the Holocaust, she and her siblings went into hiding in 1941 after her father and grandmother were killed. They hid in several locations, including a cave where two of her siblings, Feivl and Rivka, both perished. In March 1944 they returned to Horodenka and then traveled to Cernăuţi, Romania (Chernivtsi, Ukraine) where Leon and Nachman were conscripted into the Red Army. Brenda returned to Horodenka and reconnected with Dovid Huss (later David), whom she knew from childhood. The took a train to Bytom, Poland with David's surviving family and got married en route. They later moved to Legnica, Poland but fled after the Kielce pogrom on 4 July 1946. They eventually ended up in the Dieburg displaced persons camp. Their son Fred was born there in October 1948. Brenda and David initially planned to immigrate to Palestine, but then decided to try and go to the United States instead. Brenda knew she had relatives in the U.S. but her letter addressed to Aunt Bessie Miller was accidentially delivered to Meyer and Esther Miller, who were of no relation. Despite this, the Millers corresponded with Brenda and David and assisted them while in the DP camp. Brenda and David immigrated to the United States in October 1949 aboard the USS General C.C. Ballou. They settled in Chicago. David Huss (born Dovid Huss) was born in 1923 in Horodenka, Poland (Horodenka, Ukraine). In July 1941 David and his family fled Horodenka to Stavropol, Russia using false identities. David, his father Yona, Yona's second wife Balcha, her children, and Yona and Balcha's son Kopel all returned to Horodenka in 1944. He married Chaya Bruche Fettner later that year.