Metadata: Estate of Gusty Bornstein-Fink
Collection
- Country:
- Switzerland
- Holding institution:
- Archives of Contemporary History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiv für Zeitgeschichte der ETH Zürich
- Postal address:
- Hirschengraben 62, CH-8092 Zurich
- Phone number:
- +41 44 632 40 03
- Web address:
- https://www.afz.ethz.ch/
- Email:
- afz@history.gess.ethz.ch
- Reference number:
- NL Gusty Bornstein-Fink
- Title:
- Estate of Gusty Bornstein-Fink
- Title (official language):
- Teilnachlass Gusty Bornstein-Fink
- Creator/accumulator:
- Bornstein-Fink, Gusty
- Date(s):
- 1939/1995
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 0.1 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Audio
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection documents the activity of Gusty Bornstein-Fink by means of written documents (i.e. personal reports) and interviews conducted by the AfZ. In addition to Bornstein-Fink's own holdings, the collection also details the relief efforts of her family and other Jewish helpers. In particular, there are documents on the transport of refugees to Palestine on the Greek cargo ship “Aghiazoni“ in the spring of 1939. Partly identical holdings are in the Central Zionist Archives (CZA) in Jerusalem and in the Swiss Federal Archives in Bern. The holdings in the AfZ contain mainly copies (including from the CZA) and only a few originals.
- Archival history:
- Parts of the collection were transferred to the AfZ in 1993 and 1995.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Gusty Bornstein-Fink was born in St. Gallen on 15 January 1905 and died on 19 September 2005 in Zurich. Together with her husband Hermann Bornstein (6 July 1907 - 30 November 2000), she was very active in various aid organisations. In 1939, she participated in the Maccabi aid circle for Jewish refugees from Vienna in Switzerland as well as in the "Emigration Action" under the leadership of her brother Ernst Fink in Zurich; here, she supported refugees in their emigration efforts. In spring 1939, she participated in an illegal transport with the Greek cargo ship “Aghiazoni“ (also “Aghia Zoni“, “Agia Zoni“, or “Aghiazioni“) to Palestine. The ship carried about 460 refugees, among them a large group of Jews from Gailingen. Bornstein-Fink also worked with the Swiss relief organisation for emigrant children (SHEK) and the Mizrahi women's group. She organised illegal transports and provided private assistance by receiving war-damaged children in private homes. In the 1980s, Gusty Bornstein-Fink and her husband were publicly recognised for their activities.
- Access points: locations:
- Gailingen
- Switzerland
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Migration
- Migration--Emigration
- Refugees
- Access, restrictions:
- Partially restricted.
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid is available.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://onlinearchives.ethz.ch/
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2019