Stirt Family Collection

This collection documents the life of Irving Stirt and includes a diary, letters, documents, and photographs that evidence Stirt's departure from Lithuania at the age of 19, the supposed death of his family at the hands of the Nazis and his multiple attempts at gaining information about them, and his early experiences as an immigrant living in America. Letters exchanged with family and friends from Lithuania and the United States are mostly dated between 1938 and 1941, immediately before and after Stirt's immigration to the United States and before his family perished in the Kovno Ghetto. Stirt's diary (written in Yiddish and English) provides some details of his early life from 1938 until 1943, including his last days in Lithuania and his first years in America. In an excerpt from December 3, 1941, he writes "Meanwhile, it has been six months since I heard from my parents and I have no idea where they are. God knows if they're alive and well." Photographs, clippings, and letters are found among the pages of his diary.

Also included are some of Stirt's legal documents, such as his Lithuanian passport, naturalization papers, and travel records. There are two of his school diplomas from Lithuania, one of which is from the Ort Institute. Three Yad Vashem testimony forms show his repeated attempts to find out what happened to his family both before and after moving to Israel. There are also three photograph albums mostly showing his family and friends in Lithuania, with some additional pictures of his life in the U.S. In addition to the albums, there are several individual photographs with inscriptions on the back, some sent as postcards, others with some of the letters, and two passport photographs found in his travel documents. Further records include photocopies of a set of letters, a translation of Rivka Stirt's last letter, and a translation of Irving Stirt's diary.