Jüdische Gemeinde zu Berlin

This collection includes personal and official documents of the Adolf Schwersenz family, including his professional work as a cantor, mainly during his time in Berlin. It contains sheet music used by Adolf Schwersenz, as well as newspaper clippings and letters.

This collection contains the records of the Union of Jewish Student Associations in Germany (Yiddish: Farband fun di Yidishe Studentn Fareynen in Daytshland; German: Verband Jüdischer Studentenvereine in Deutschland), an umbrella organization of associations of East European Jewish students who were pursuing their education in cities throughout Germany in the 1920s. Along with the Union's records are the records of two of its affiliate associations, the Jewish Student Association in Berlin and the Jewish Student Association in Jena. The student associations and the umbrella organization that they founded aimed to further Jewish cultural life among members; to provide material assistance to members in need; and to advocate for the interests of members vis-à-vis state and academic authorities. Included are administrative records such as bylaws, minutes, and announcements; materials documenting membership meetings of the Berlin association and conferences of the umbrella organization; petitions and correspondence from members concerning financial aid; materials documenting libraries maintained by the students, and other activities; and general correspondence. Among the correspondents are Jewish charitable and social-welfare organizations that contributed to the support of East European Jewish students through the student associations, including the Yidishe Velt-Hilfs-Konferents (Conférence Universelle Juive de Secours, Paris), the Verband der Russischen Juden, the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, and the Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Deutschen Juden, as well as the Jewish Community of Berlin, and Jewish communities in other cities in Germany. The collection also includes a relatively small amount of materials of mixed provenance documenting the activities of other associations and umbrella organizations of East European Jewish students, both in Eastern Europe and the West, the greatest portion related to interwar Poland, especially Vilna.

The Steven Schwarzschild Collection documents professional activities of Steven S. Schwarzschild, researcher, philosopher, rabbi and teacher. It also documents (to a much smaller degree) the personal lives of Steven Schwarzschild and his wife Lily. The collection includes brochures, booklets, clippings, correspondence, notes, off prints, photographs, printed materials, and writings. Documents comprising the collection shed light on Steven Schwarzschild’s education, and reflect various aspects of Steven Schwarzschild’s involvement with Judaism, as leader of Jewish congregations in Fargo, North Dakota and Lynn, Massachusetts; his academic career, research and writings in the fields of philosophy and theology.