Estate of Gerty and Saly Levy-Hasgall

Collection

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

Scope and content:: The collection mainly contains private and official documents of the couple. Some of the photos in the collection were also included in the "Bildarchiv Schweizer Juden" (BASJ) project. They can be found under "Levy, René".

Archival history:: The collection kept by Gerty Levy-Hasgall and after her death was passed on to her son René Levy. He handed it over to the AfZ in 2014.

Administrative/biographical history:: Saly Levy-Hasgall was born in Zurich on 22 June 1904 and died in Zurich on 20 September 1984. He worked in the textile trade and was a son of Armand Levy of Grüssenheim (Alsace-Lorraine), a businessman, and Juliette, née Geissmar. In 1940, he married Gerta ("Gerty") Hasgall, with whom he had two children named René (born 1943) and Ruth (1946-1947). After finishing his textile apprenticeship, he trained in London and Paris. He abandoned his studies to work in the textile business of his uncle Saly Levy, became his partner and suffered bankruptcy in the 1950s. After that he worked as a self-employed representative in the textile sector. Levy was a member of the Zurich circle of friends "Das Pack", as well as being committed to the Israelite Women's Association of Zurich.

Gerta (Gerty) Levy-Hasgall was born in Diessenhofen on 7 August 1913 and died in Zurich on 20 September 2013. She was the daughter of Karl Hasgall (1884-1959), a businessman, and Bella (1885-1986), née Baach. She worked as a secretary in the company of Saly Levy Sen. and later in her husband's office. For many years she was the treasurer of the Israelitischer Frauenverein Zurich. She was also a member of "Das Pack".

Author of the description:: Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2020