Title: Stanley M. Nowinski Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1941-1993

Creator:

• Nowinski, Stanley M.

Call Number: WVM Mss 28

Quantity: 1.4 linear ft. (3 archives boxes and 7 oversize folders) of papers, 0.2 linear ft. (1 archives box and 1 oversize folder) of photographs.

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers and photographs of Stanley M. Nowinski, an officer in the Army during World War II and Korea, who worked immediately following the former to help Jewish Holocaust survivors get into Israel. The majority of the collection consists of Nowinski's military papers, including orders, forms, and reports that he collected during his twenty years of service. They provide some insights into the military through clothing and equipment lists, stateside housing forms, and pay records. In his reminiscences, he recalls the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau by the 42nd Division and his work as the Displaced Persons Officer. Also include is his post-war correspondence with leaders of the Jewish group, Bricha, that he worked with after World War II to get the survivors into Israel. The letters show the high regard in which Nowinski and his deeds were held several decades after the fact. Correspondents include Aba Gefen, an important Israeli diplomat. Other papers document his trip to Israel in 1973, where he received the Righteous Gentile Award. Materials from several Holocaust remembrance events attended by Nowinski include programs signed by Holocaust survivors and flyers posted by survivors trying to locate lost relatives. The photographs include shots from Nowinski's trip to Israel and several individual photos of him in military uniform.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00028

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Stanley Milford Nowinski was born on October 23, 1911 in Ripon, Wisconsin. He grew up in the city, graduating from local schools and attending Ripon College for four years. Upon graduating he took a job teaching German at his alma mater, which he continued until his military service. Nowinski was drafted into federal service in March 1941. He initially reported to Fort Benning, Georgia before transferring to a military police training camp in Boise, Idaho. In November 1942 he was assigned to the 775th Military Police Battalion and several months later received a promotion to lieutenant.

Nowinski went to Europe in 1944 and in February 1945 was transferred to the 42nd “Rainbow” Division. With that unit, he witnessed the recently liberated concentration camp at Dachau and saw first-hand the condition of the former inmates. He had applied for an assignment to the Civil Affairs Division, thinking that his fluency in Polish and German would be of use in the European theater. He was assigned as the Displaced Persons Control Officer in Salzburg, Austria and was in charge of repatriating the displaced persons, including concentration camp survivors. His duty was to return them to their home countries, but he soon discovered that many Jewish people feared returning to Europe and wanted to instead go to Palestine (modern-day Israel). Against orders Nowinski began working with Bricha, an underground organization intent on getting Jewish survivors into British-controlled Palestine. He allowed tens of thousands of Polish and German Jews to pass as Italians and thus be shipped to Italy, from where they could obtain easier passage to Palestine. British authorities discovered the subterfuge after time and their objections almost led to a court martial for Nowinski. The situation was defused and he avoided reprimand.

Remaining in the Army after the war, Nowinski was assigned as an officer at Mattoon High School (Illinois) ROTC, where he served through 1950. From 1950 to 1952 he served in Korea, assisting refugees as part of the United Nations Civil Assistance Command, Korea (UNCACK). Returning to the United States after his tour of duty in Korea, Nowinski married Hazel Yacks in June 1953. He then served duty at Fort Carson, Colorado; Heilbronn, Germany; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Fort Lewis, Washington; and Alaska. After twenty years of service, Nowinski retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1961.

Upon retiring Nowinski and his wife settled in Union Grove, Wisconsin, where he taught German and American history at the local high school. He became a member of American Legion Post No. 171 and of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. He also maintained a correspondence with many of the Bricha members he had worked with in Salzburg, especially Aba Geffen.

In the summer of 1973, at the request of his friends from Bricha, Stanley and Hazel traveled to Israel where he was honored for the help he gave to Holocaust survivors following the war. He planted a tree in the national forest, visited the Holocaust archives, and was awarded the Remembrance Medal and the Righteous Gentile Award, the highest honor the nation of Israel can give to a person of non-Jewish origin.

Nowinski spent his final years attending Holocaust remembrance events around the country and speaking about his experiences for local schools and organizations. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he passed away in Kenosha, Wisconsin on July 6, 1993.

The papers of Stanley M. Nowinski are divided into three series: Military Papers, Post-war, and Photographs.

Military Papers (1941-1984) consist almost entirely of the orders, forms, and reports that Nowinski collected throughout his military service. These papers document the bare bones of his service (e.g. movements, promotions) but do not go into much depth. The forms do provide some interesting insight into stateside military life through clothing and equipment lists, apartment check-out forms, pay records, and travel documents. Nowinski's personal service records include certificates and citations that he earned and letters of recommendation from officers. His 1945 journal contains some description of his activities in Austria, though it does not touch upon his involvement in helping Holocaust survivors get into Israel. The biographical materials include some memoirs that do touch upon that topic.

Post-war (1945-1993) contains a large amount of correspondence between Nowinski and the former leaders of Bricha in Salzburg. These letters begin in the years immediately following the war, as former friends tried to track down Nowinski to express their gratitude. The letters continue as they describe the evolvement of Israel and their memories of the days immediately following World War II. Continued invitations to visit Israel came to fruition in 1973, and subsequent correspondence discusses the details of Nowinski's trip. Other items include posters and ephemera from several Holocaust remembrance events that Nowinski attended as a guest, including the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Washington, DC in 1983. Included among those materials are programs signed by numerous Holocaust survivors and flyers posted at the event to help survivors track down lost relatives. An itinerary and newspaper clippings document Nowinski's trip to Israel in 1973 and the honors bestowed upon him, including the Righteous Gentile Award. Numerous “Trees for Israel” certificates show the gratitude that many Jewish people felt for Nowinski's actions in post-war Salzburg.

Photographs (1945-1982) include scattered shots from Nowinski's military and personal life. Photographs from his trip to Israel in 1973 include shots of him planting a tree and touring the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. There are several individual photos of Nowinski in military uniform. Other military shots document his service at Mattoon, Illinois and Korea.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Hazel Nowinski, Union Grove, WI, 1994, 1995, and 1999. Accession Number: TR 0072, TR0481, TR0956, V1995.109, and A95.151. This collection was organized as a result of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission project grant (2003-075).

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory by Mark Van Ells, circa 1995. Processed by Russell Horton in 2004.

	Series: Military Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical materials, 1974, 1983
Ov   10 Folder   3	42nd Division, Map of operations, circa 1946
Box   1 Folder   2	Personal military papers, 1942-1958
Box   1 Folder   3	Classified documents receipts, 1956
Box   1 Folder   4	Clothing and equipment records, 1954-1956
Box   1 Folder   5	Dependent forms, 1955-1959
	Ephemera
Box   1 Folder   6	Application for German hunting license, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Court martial proceedings, undated
Box   1 Folder   8	Graduation program, 1942
Box   1 Folder   9	775th Military Police Battalion, 1943
Box   1 Folder   10	Study materials, 1952, undated
Box   1 Folder   11	Equipment forms, 1947-1957
Box   1 Folder   12	Hand receipts, 1955-1958
Box   1 Folder   13	Installation clearance certificates, 1956-1961
Box   1 Folder   14	Issue slips, 1951-1958
Box   1 Folder   15-16	Journal, 1945
Box   1 Folder   17	Living quarters forms, 1942, 1957-1959
Box   1 Folder   18	Medical records, 1942, 1955-1960
Box   1 Folder   19	Moving possessions forms, 1957-1962
Box   1 Folder   20	Newspaper clipping, circa 1946
Box   1 Folder   21-23	Orders, 1941-1945
Box   2 Folder   1-5	Orders, 1946-1961
Box   2 Folder   6	Pay records, 1942-1950, 1961
Box   2 Folder   7	Military pay vouchers, 1959-1961
Box   2 Folder   8	Pay allowance account forms, 1942-1949
Box   2 Folder   9	Statements of account, 1958-1959
Box   2 Folder   10	Personal service records, 1941-1961
Box   2 Folder   11	Army Intelligence School, 1956
Box   2 Folder   12	Certificates, 1941-1959
Ov   10 Folder   4	Oversized, 1952-1961
Box   2 Folder   13	Citations/Awards, 1945-1957
Box   2 Folder   14	DEERS Program Enrollment, circa 1984
Box   2 Folder   15	Draft records, 1941
Box   2 Folder   16	Driver qualification record, 1959
Box   2 Folder   17	Entry on active duty report, 1942
Box   2 Folder   18	Letters of recommendation, 1944-1957
Box   2 Folder   19	Promotions, 1950-1955
Box   2 Folder   20	Ration card records, 1957
Box   2 Folder   21	Reimbursement for Travel Vouchers, 1956-1958
Box   2 Folder   22	Report of change slips, 1942-1943
Box   2 Folder   23	Retirement documents, 1960-1964
Box   2 Folder   24	Transfer of serial documents, 1955
Box   2 Folder   25	Travel documents, 1956-1958, 1961
Box   2 Folder   26	Turn-in slips, 1947, 1956-1957
	Two hundred twenty-second Infantry Regiment
Box   2 Folder   27	History, undated
Ov   10 Folder   5	Insignia, undated
	Series: Post-war	⇧
	Correspondence
	From Stanley Nowinski
Box   3 Folder   1	To Yehuda Bauer, 1968-1973
Box   3 Folder   2	To Eli Bohnen, 1981-1982
Box   3 Folder   3	To Eugene Cohen, 1958-1976
Box   3 Folder   4	To Herbert Friedman, 1961-1976
Box   3 Folder   5	To Aba Gefen, 1966-1983
Box   3 Folder   6	To Ruhama Goldstein, 1973-1976
Box   3 Folder   7	To others, 1945-1984
	To Stanley Nowinski
Box   3 Folder   8	From Yehuda Bauer, 1968
Box   3 Folder   9	From Eli Bohnen, 1981-1982
Box   3 Folder   10	From Eugene Cohen, 1947-1973
Box   3 Folder   11	From Herbert Friedman, 1947-1976
Box   3 Folder   12	From Aba Gefen, 1947-1994
Box   3 Folder   13	From Ruhama Goldstein, 1973-1974
Box   3 Folder   14-15	From others, 1945-1989
	Holocaust Remembrance Events
	American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
Box   3 Folder   16	Autographed publications, 1983
Box   3 Folder   17	Flyers, 1983
Box   3 Folder   18	Literature, 1985-1988
Ov   15 Folder   1	Poster, 1983
Ov   11 Folder   5	Oversize, 1983, 1985
Box   3 Folder   19	Program materials, 1983
Box   3 Folder   20	Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, 1981-1984
Box   3 Folder   21	Newspaper clippings, 1974-1994
Ov   15 Folder   2	United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1981
Box   3 Folder   22	Yad Vashem, 1970-1983
	Israel Trip
Box   3 Folder   23	Ephemera, 1973
Box   3 Folder   24	Itinerary, 1973
Box   3 Folder   25	Newspaper clippings, 1973
Box   3 Folder   26	Speech, 1973
Box   3 Folder   27	Trees for Israel certificates, undated
Ov   15 Folder   3	Oversized, undated
Box   3 Folder   28	Memorial booklet, 1993
	Series: Photographs	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	Military [6] , undated
Box   4 Folder   2	Displaced persons [5] , circa 1945
PhOv   9 Folder   3	Group shots [2] , circa 1943
Box   4 Folder   3	Mattoon, Illinois [2] undated
Box   4 Folder   4	Stanley Nowinski [4] , undated
Box   4 Folder   5-6	Korea [8] , 1951
Box   4 Folder   7	Post-war [5] , undated
Box   4 Folder   8	Ruhama Goldstein [2] , 1951
Box   4 Folder   9	Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois [3] , 1982
Box   4 Folder   10-11	Israel [9] , 1973