Baeck, Leo, 1873-1956

The collection consists of material pertaining to Rabbi Leo Baeck. The material, mostly secondary, was collected by the Leo Baeck Institute’s staff and in some cases bear markings and notes by the Institute’s staff.

The Leo Baeck Family Collection documents the lives and influential events of members of the Baeck and Berlak families, specifically Leo Baeck, Ruth and Hermann Berlak, and Marianne and A. Stanley Dreyfus. Most prominent is the documentation on Leo Baeck's life; other salient themes include the World War I experience of Hermann Berlak and the Dreyfuses' involvement in preserving the memory of Leo Baeck's life and teachings. The collection includes extensive correspondence; a large accumulation of articles, especially those focused on Leo Baeck; a smaller amount of personal papers, manuscripts, drafts and notes; and a few photographs and slides.

In this memorial article, Herzfeld offers deep insight into the problems and the predicament for German Jews from 1933 to 1938. He especially describes the creation and the work of “Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden”, the new organization for German Jews, facing the Nazi-regime.

This collection contains materials about the Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden, a federation of Jewish organizations and regional and local Jewish communities, founded in 1933, that aimed to provide a unified voice for German Jewry in dealing with the Nazi authorities. It includes a significant amount of correspondence surrounding the formation of the Reichsvertretung, as well as articles, budgets, clippings, ephemera, leaflets, minutes, reports, and statistics.

The file contains various documents pertaining to the activity of the Reich Representation of German Jews (Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden) and comprises ten folders.

Published articles by the lawyer and Jewish community leader Walter Breslauer on matters of interest for German Jewish refugees after World War Two, including legal matters; international law; questions concerning restitution for German refugees; articles about Jewish personalities; and articles about the Jewish community in Berlin.