Ohlbaum Immigration Assistance Fund

Emerich and Viola Ohlbaum survived the Holocaust and came to the United States as refugees in the 1940s.

Est. 2017 by Edward Coady; Rebecca and Michael Morris; and Shoshana, Macoy and Spencer Ohlbaum

The Ohlbaum Immigration Assistance Fund is a donor advised fund established in memory of Viola S. and Emerich Ohlbaum.

Viola and Emerich were survivors of Auschwitz and labor camps during WWII; their parents and a number of siblings were killed at Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Buoyed by their parent's lessons of resilience and the passage of the Truman Act in late 1945, Viola and Emerich each made their way to the United States where they were welcomed as refugees.

Mr. and Mrs. Ohlbaum achieved a version of the American Dream, founding what became a small string of bakeries called Em's Bake Shop and raising six children. They imbued their grandchildren with an enthusiasm for all America could provide and a commitment to the value that refugees and immigrants bring to our country and society.

The Ohlbaum grandchildren established this fund in their grandparents' memory to provide assistance to new immigrants with the hope they too can thrive in our community.