Hannah Schiller was born in 1921 in Berlin. Her mother, Rosa Oleynick, was born on October 21, 1890 in Slutzk, Belarus and studied medicine in Koenigsberg, Berlin, and in Freiburg. Rosa Oleynick earned her Ph.D. from the Albertus-Universitaet in Koenigsberg in 1915. Hannah Schiller's father, Edwin Schiller, also worked as a physician at the Universitaetsklinik at Koenigsberg. In November 1935 the family immigrated to Palestine, settling in Tel Aviv. In June 1936 the family decided to leave Palestine, and after a short stay in Switzerland they immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on September 17, 1936.
Hannah Schiller received her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1942. From 1942-1943 she worked as a graduate assistant at the Department of Politics at Princeton University and simultaneously took classes in political science and economics. From 1943-1944 she worked for the Office of War Information, and then became a radio news writer for CBS. From 1946-1947 she was an interpreter at the Nuremberg trials. In Germany, she married Rolf Wartenberg, who also worked for the Office for War Crimes. She later became a professor of sociology at the University of Miami, teaching courses on the sociology of gender roles, family, mass communications and American Jewry.
From the guide to the Hannah Schiller Collection, 1914-1996, bulk 1921-1956, (Leo Baeck Institute)
