Metadata: Estate of Ernst 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 Ernst Fink
- Title:
- Estate of Ernst Fink
- Title (official language):
- Einzelbestand Ernst Fink
- Creator/accumulator:
- Fink, Ernst
- Date(s):
- 1919/1989
- Language:
- German
- Hebrew
- French
- English
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Extent:
- 0.25 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection contains Fink’s memoirs, correspondence and family photographs.
- Archival history:
- The material was handed over to the AfZ by Werner Fink (son of Ernst Fink). He took the documents to Israel after his father’s death. The documents, some of which were originally stored in folders, were removed from the latter, however, the existing order was retained as far as possible. In 1960, Ernst Fink transferred individual original documents (especially telegrams sent from the ship) to the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, copies of which are, however, in the present collection.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Ernst Fink of Oberhelfenschwil (SG) was born in St. Gallen on 30 September 1906 and died on 17 July 1987 in Zurich. Fink was the son of Joseph Fink, a businessman, and Fanny Fink, née Gut. On 5 July 1936, he married Elsa, née Bornstein. In 1922, Fink began and later successfully completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Schweizerische Kleiderfabrik AG in Zurich and at the Kaufmännische Berufsschule Zürich (KVZ). In 1938, he opened stores in Zurich and Basel specialising in custom-made orthopaedic shoes and insoles. From 1939 to 1945, he served 193 days in the Zurich air-raid precautions battalion. On 15 November 1939, he was appointed corporal. Between 1938 and 1945, Fink organised and assisted in the transport of refugees from Europe to Palestine, Australia, and the USA. Among other things, he organised the transportation by ship on the “Aghiazoni“ (also “Aghia Zoni“, “Agia Zoni“ or “Aghiazioni“) in 1939. In 1948, Fink became a member of the board of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ) and responsible for the department “Youth and Religious Education“; then he became member of the central committee of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG).
- Access points: locations:
- Switzerland
- Subject terms:
- Memoirs
- Personal records
- Refugees
- 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
