George Vida Collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains primarily photocopies of documents concerning the efforts of the Vida family to emigrate from their home in Gablonz, Sudetenland (today Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic) to the United States. There are also several of Vida's handwritten sermons.
Photocopies of emigration documents and related vital records documents comprise folders 1-4. Folder 4 also contains a review of Vida's book describing his work with refugees and some biographical notes by Emmie Vida. Folder 5 contains George Vida's handwritten and typed notes for his sermons given while serving as rabbi in Gablonz. The letters in folder 6 were written by a boy, Horst Hirschel, whom the Vida family befriended while in Prague waiting for their visas. Horst became friends with Ruth, the daughter of George and Emmie, and wrote her letters after she departed. Horst and his family were not able to secure visas and perished in the Shoah.
Dates
- 1924-1990
Creator
- Vida, George, 1906-1989 (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is in German, English, Czech and Hungarian.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org
Biographical Note
George Vida was born in 1906 in Csongrád, Hungary. In 1930 he married Emma (later Emmie) Koppel, born 1909 in Mönchengladbach. Vida acted as rabbi in the Sudetenland town of Gablonz from 1930-1938, when he and his family emigrated via Turnov, Prague, and Bratislava to the United States. In the United States Vida initially served as rabbi before joining the Chaplain's Corps of the U.S. Army and returning to Europe to work with soldiers and refugees. He later served further tours as army chaplain in Korea and Germany in the 1950s. He eventually wrote a book about these experiences entitled From Doom to Dawn.
Extent
6 Folders
Abstract
The collection contains primarily photocopies of documents concerning the efforts of the Vida family to emigrate from their home in Gablonz, Sudetenland (today Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic) to the United States. There are also several of Vida's handwritten sermons.
Separated Material
The book A Rabbi Kőnyve has been removed to the LBI Library.
Clippings have been removed to the George Vida Clippings Collection, AR 7084 C.
Bibliography
Note
Most items in folders 1-4 are photocopies, and legibility is therefore less than optimal.
- Chaplains
- Correspondence
- Czechoslovakia -- History -- 1918-1938
- Jablonec nad Nisou (Czech Republic)
- Jews -- Czech Republic -- History -- 1933-1945
- Koppel, Max
- Koppel, Mendel
- Korean War, 1950-1953 -- United States
- Legal documents
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Rabbis
- Sudetenland (Czech Republic)
- United States -- Emigration and immigration
- Vida, Emmie, 1909-2002
- Vida, George, 1906-1989
- Vida, Ruth
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Chaplains
- World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
- Title
- Guide to the George Vida Collection, 1924-1990 AR 7084
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Julie Dawson
- Date
- © 2012
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- July 11, 2012 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
