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Maurice Udes

Maurice Udes was born to a Jewish family in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1922. He came to Omaha following World War II to work for Lyon Metal Products and eventually established the successful Builder’s Supply Company. He was inducted into the Omaha Business Hall of Fame in 2001. Maurice served three years in XXII Corps Artillery, Occupation Force in Germany as First Lieutenant during the war and participated in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp.  Maurice’s Aunt Frida had come to the US in the early part of the 20th century but had returned to Germany. She married Jakob Rein in 1921. Sadly, Jakob passed away in 1933. As the Nazi’s came to power, Frida’s relatives in America tried to bring her, along with her stepdaughter and another young woman to the United States, but she waited too long to request passage and they were all deported to Gurs concentration camp in the south of France. Despite the family’s attempts from America, Frida and the girls lost their lives in the Nazi concentration camps.  Maurice lamented that during his years in Europe with the Army, he was not able to locate his aunt and the girls. Documents of the family’s efforts can be found in Maurice’s collection. Hear Maurice's testimony in his own words.


37 items

Marriage Certificate of Albert and Minna Silbernagel

  • Date: October 27, 1885
  • Format: document

Frida and Jacob Rhein

  • Date: 1927
  • Format: photograph

Letter from Jeannette Robbins to Francis Silbernagel, January 15, 1941

  • Date: January 15, 1941
  • Creator(s): Robbins, Jeannette
  • Format: letter

Letter from Jeannette Robbins to Francis Silbernagel, January 15, 1941

  • Date: January 15, 1941
  • Creator(s): Robbins, Jeannette
  • Format: letter

Letter from Jeannette to Francis Silbernagel, Febuary 7, 1941

  • Date: February 7, 1941
  • Creator(s): Jeanette
  • Format: letter

Letter to Jeanette, February 10, 1941

  • Date: February 10, 1941
  • Format: letter

Letter from Issac L. Asofsky to Louis Rhein, June 23, 1941

  • Date: June 23, 1941
  • Creator(s): Asofsky, Isaac L.
  • Format: letter

Letter from Francis Silbernagel to Frieda Rhein and family, August 10, 1944

  • Date: August 10, 1944
  • Format: letter

Dachau Concentration Camp

  • Date: August 1945
  • Format: photograph

Joan and Maury Udes donate $200,000 to help resettle Soviet Jews in Omaha

  • Date: January 26, 1990
  • Creator(s): Jacobson, Joanie
  • Format: newspaper

Letter from Joanie Jacobson to Joan and Maury Udes, January 26, [1990]

  • Date: January 26, [1990]
  • Creator(s): Jacobson, Joanie
  • Format: letter

Maurice Udes and Family

  • Date: 2001
  • Format: photograph

Builders Supply Company

  • Date: 2003
  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes, 83, did business with a smile

  • Date: November 23, 2005
  • Creator(s): Bradley, Qianna
  • Format: newspaper

Founder of Builder's Supply Dies

  • Date: November 25, 2005
  • Format: newspaper

Maurice Udes Portrait

  • Format: photograph

Letter from Francis Silbernagel to Frida Rhein, December 3

  • Creator(s): Silbernagel, Francis
  • Format: letter

Maurice Udes Obituary

  • Format: newspaper

Maurice Udes Portrait

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes Portrait

  • Creator(s): Logue Studio
  • Format: photograph

Builders Supply Workers

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes in Uniform

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes Receiving Award

  • Format: photograph

Builders Supply Truck

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes in a Jeep

  • Format: photograph

Dachau Concentration Camp

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes's Uniform

  • Format: photograph

Letter from Frida Rhein to Francis Silbernagel, March 18

  • Creator(s): Rhein, Frida
  • Format: letter

Maurice Udes as a Child

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes in Uniform

  • Creator(s): Hinea, C. B.
  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes Portrait

  • Format: photograph

Joan and Maurice Udes

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes Interview (Part II)

  • Format: testimony
  • Source: Nebraska Jewish Historical Society

Maurice Udes Portrait

  • Format: photograph

Soldiers

  • Format: photograph

Maurice Udes Interview (Part I)

  • Format: testimony
  • Source: Nebraska Jewish Historical Society

Letter from Lina Goldschmidt and Martha and Frida Rhein, February 26

  • Creator(s): Goldschmidt, Lina | Rhein, Martha | Rhein, Frida
  • Format: letter
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