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Herbert Buky Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 5143

Scope and Content Note

The Herbert Buky Collection documents the personal live of Herbert Buky and to a smaller extent the lives of other members of the Buky family.

Included here are materials pertaining to Herbert Buky’s life in pre-war Germany, his immigration, and his life in the United States after World War II.

Collection consists of correspondence, documents, printed materials, unpublished manuscripts, and photographs.

The bulk of the sections consists of materials pertaining to Buky's immigration. These materials include applications, correspondence with German and Japanese authorities, clippings from the Shanghai newspapers, as well as personal correspondence and a large number of biographical essays. These memoirs shed light on Buky’s experience in pre-war war Germany, his imprisonment in Dachau, immigration to Shanghai, and life in the United States.

Other materials dealing with immigration and the war period include materials regarding Herta and Herbert Buky's restitution cases. These include correspondence, forms, and legal documents.

Additionally, there are two audio tapes of Oral History narrated by Herbert Buky.

Furthermore, there is personal correspondence of Herbert Buky as well as a small amount of correspondence from his grandparents, photographs of Herbert Buky and other members of the Buky family, printed materials, such as clippings, brochures, and newsletters, and some genealogical materials.

Other correspondence includes correspondence with lawyers and American and German authorities regarding restitution and pension.

Additional personal materials include education and travel documents, daybooks, and photographs of Herbert Buky as well as other members of the Buky family.

There are very few materials dealing with Herbert Buky’s professional activities.

Dates

  • 1864-1990
  • Majority of material found in 1930s-1970s

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in English and German.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

Biographical Note

Herbert Buky was born in 1901 in Beuthen, Germany, (now Bythom, Poland).

He received his initial education in Beuthon before attending universities in Breslau, Heidelberg, Jena and Leipzig, studying economics and journalism.

Herbert Buky worked for a number of newspapers including Allgemeine Lokalanzeiger, Beuthen, Israelitisches Familienblatt, Juedische Rundschau, CV Zeitung, Juedische Allgemeine Zeitung, Berlin, and Juedische Zeitung Breslau.

In 1936 he founded a communal paper-Juedisches Gemeindeblatt fuer Oberschlesien (Gleiwitz, Beuthen, Hindenburg) and served as its editor and publisher until it was shut down in 1939.

In 1939 Herbert Buky was imprisoned in Buchenwald. Upon his release the same year, he and his wife Herta left for Shanghai.

In Shanghai he was involved in the Jewish cultural life and became a singer.

In 1947 Herbert Buky and his wife immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where he worked as a laboratory assistant at the Western Pennsylvania hospital..

Herbert Buky died in 1990.

Extent

4 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Herbert Buky Collection documents the personal live of Herbert Buky and to a smaller extent the lives of other members of the Buky family. Included here are materials pertaining to Herbert Buky’s life in pre-war Germany, his immigration and his life in the United States after World War II. The collection consists of correspondence, documents, printed materials, unpublished manuscripts, and photographs.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into two parts-the original collection itself, consisting of a single series and Addenda, consisting of four series:

Microfilm

The collection is on eight reels of microfilm (MF 1123):

  1. Reel 1: 1/1 - 1/18
  2. Reel 2: 1/19 - 1/21
  3. Reel 3: 2/2 - 2/11
  4. Reel 4: 2/12 - 2/15
  5. Reel 5: 3/1 - 3/7
  6. Reel 6: 3/8 - 3/14
  7. Reel 7: 3/15 - 4/5
  8. Reel 8: 4/6 - 4/11

Separated Material

Some photographs were removed to the LBI Photo Collection

Title
Guide to the Papers of Herbert Buky (1901-1990) 1864-1990 bulk 1930s-1970s AR 5143/ MF 1123
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Yakov Illich Sklar
Date
© 2010
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
as part of the Leon Levy Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation

Revision Statements

  • October 2011.: Microfilm inventory added.
  • April 01, 2015 : dao links added by Emily Andresini.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States