Leo Abraham was born in Altenkirchen, Germany on October 27, 1902. Altenkirchen contained a small Jewish community, in which Abraham held an active role. He married Else Marx, and they had two children, Berta (Bertl) and Hannalore. By 1933, Abraham realized the threat of Nazism and prepared his family for immigration to Palestine. They received the visas, but due to a car accident in 1937, Abraham was unable to travel until after the visas expired. On Kristallnacht, Abraham was rounded up and sent to Dachau, but returned to his family two weeks later. In 1938, he was forced to sell his property at half its value and continued attempting to get clearance to emigrate out of Germany. In 1939 he and his family moved to Cologne, where Abraham was able to immigrate to England and stay at the Kitchener Camp from August 1939 to March 1940. In March 1940, Abraham immigrated to the United States. From that point, Abraham worked to get his family out of Germany, but it was unsuccessful, and his wife and two daughters were first deported to Riga and then farther East, where they were murdered in early 1942. After the war, Abraham married his second wife Ida Reiner until his death on August 14, 1980.
From the guide to the Leo Abraham Collection, 1938-1983, bulk 1938-1942, (Leo Baeck Institute)
