JHSSD-Cantor Joseph Cysner Collection

This two box collection contains rare and Holocaust memorabilia. Donated by his wife, Sylvia Cysner in December 2002, this collection chronicles the odyssey of her husband, Cantor Cysner, from his Nazi deportation ordeal and internment at the Zbaszyn, Poland Detainee Camp in October 1938, to his immigration to the Philippines in April 1939, to his Japanese imprisonment at Santo Tomas in Manila in 1942, and to his resettlement in San Francisco and then San Diego after World War II. The most important items in this collection are his handwritten journal of his deportation experiences and time spent in Zbaszyn and the testimonial certificate with original art work presented to him when he left Zbaszyn. Also contained in the collection are manuscripts of his original music compositions. To read a graduate paper that chronicles his story, please link here.

Digital Highlights from the Cantor Joseph Cysner Collection