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Carola Levy Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 257

Scope and Content Note

The Carola Levy Collection holds papers of this individual as well as of her ancestors, the Levy and Feldheim families, and their forebears. The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, copies of documents of family members, and a friendship book.

Carola Levy's own papers are located in Series I and include unpublished articles as well as correspondence. Her articles relate to Martin Buber and to the Fuerstlich Leiningensches Archiv in Amorbach, Germany, archive that holds records of Jews of the region. Another work by her will be found in Series II, a recollection of the stories of her grandmother Amanda Levy. Series I also includes some articles written by others including on the history of Jews in Worms as well as on anti-Semitism and the events of the 1930s and 1940s. Her correspondence in the first series includes letters to the Leo Baeck Institute regarding her family and Else Lasker-Schüler in addition to correspondence with others on a range of other subjects.

Series II focuses on the Levy, Feldheim and other related families. Much of this series is composed of photocopied documents of family members, such as official and business documentation, wedding papers, and newspaper clippings that mentioned family members. Notable is the friendship book of an unidentified "Rosa" and a lecture on Friedrich Gernsheim given by Kurt Becker. Included in the series is also a family tree.

The following individuals and families are mentioned in this collection: Feldheim family; Gernsheim, Friedrich; Kaufmann, Ferdinand family; Lasker-Schüler, Else; Levi, Jakob; Levi, Simon; Levy family; Levy, Carola, 1893-1975; Levy, Marcus; Levy, Max; Rosenbaum, Hirsch; Rosenbaum, Philipp; Stein, Nathan; Steinheim, Salomon; Taubes, Zwi; Wisser, Richard.

Dates

  • 1823-1978
  • Majority of material found in 1840-1890, 1965-1975

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is primarily in English, German, and Hebrew, with small amounts of Yiddish, Spanish and French.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Reserve" button.

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

Carola Levy was born in Worms in 1893, the daughter of Max and Rosa (née Feldheim) Levy. Max Levy was head of the Jewish Community in Worms. Around 1933 Carola Levy emigrated to Switzerland, where she married Ferdinand Kaufmann of Basel. They later moved to the United States. Carola Levy Kaufmann died in 1975 in New Rochelle, New York.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Carola Levy Collection holds the papers of Carola Levy Kaufmann as well as of the Levy and Feldheim families and related families. The collection consists of correspondence, article manuscripts, copies of family members' documents and newspaper clippings, and a friendship book.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

Other Finding Aid

Twenty-two catalogue cards list each item in the collection; each item in the collection is marked with a number that corresponds to that used in the catalogue cards.

Digitization Note

This collection was digitized and made accessible in its entirety with the exception of folder 2, which is only available onsite due to copyright concerns.

Related Material

The LBI Library includes three works by Carola Levy Kaufmann:

  1. Drei Jahre Vermissten-Ermittlung und Gefangenenfuersorge Bericht (D 627 K38)
  2. Karl Joel zum Gedaechtnis (B 3279 J644 K3)
  3. "Judensachen" aus dem Fuerstlich Leiningenschen Archiv in Amorbach (q DS 135 G4 R52 K38, 8 pages, perhaps a variation on the unpublished manuscript of the same name in Series I, which is 40 pages)

The LBI Library contains one work by Max Levy, Carola Levy Kaufmann's father, Ein Kapitel Wormser Finanzgeschichte (HJ 1009 W67 L4) as well as two works with contributions by him:

  1. Der Alte israelitische Friedhof zu Worms a. Rh. 12 Kunstblaetter mit Vorwort von Max Levy (q GT 3250 W66 A4)
  2. Zur Geschichte der Wormser juedischen Gemeinde, ihrer Friedhoefe und ihres Begraebniswesens. Gedenkschrift zur Eroeffnung des neuen Friedhofs ("Zur Geschichte der Wormser juedischen Gemeinde, von M. Levy," GT 3250 W66 Z8)

Related is also the Heinrich Heidenheimer Collection, AR 500, which holds a letter from him to Carola Kaufman.

Separated Material

During processing an issue of the newspaper Der Ruf: Unabhaengige Juedische Zeitung Organ der "Messilo" was removed to the LBI Library.

Processing Information

The collection was previously processed in 1978 by Ilse Turnheim as the Mrs. Ferdinand Kaufmann Collection, at which time a family tree was created. The collection consisted of one large folder but during reprocessing in October 2013 it was further subdivided into multiple folders and the folders into series.

Title
Guide to the Papers of Carola Levy 1823-1978 AR 257
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Dianne Ritchey and Ilse Turnheim
Date
© 2013
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
Digitization made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Edition statement
This version was derived from CarolaLevy.xml

Revision Statements

  • July 2015: dao links and digitization information added by Leanora Lange.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

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