Lessie Sachs Collection
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection consists of writings by Lessie Sachs. Included are poems and essays, in the form of both handwritten manuscripts and typescript galley proofs with handwritten annotations. A copy of a private-press edition of Tag- und Nachtgedichte with accompanying reviews and advertising is included as well. There is also a book of transcribed letters exchanged between Lessie Sachs and Helene Bielschowsky regarding Lessie Sachs's daughter Dorothee. Miscellaneous documents include Dorothee Wagner's official change of address certificate (1934; German polizeiliche Ummeldung), a telegram from Walter Freudenthal and a few clippings.
Dates
- 1931-1944
Creator
- Sachs, Lessie (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is in German and English.
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
Lessie Sachs was born in Breslau in 1897. Her father was the neurologist Heinrich Sachs. She attended arts and crafts schools in Breslau and Munich, where she belonged to liberal student and artist organizations. Her first poems were published in the journal Simplicissimus . Later, several major German newspapers such as the Vossische Zeitung published her work. Some of her poems were also set to music and broadcast by several radio stations. She also practiced drawing and handicrafts. In 1933, she married the composer and pianist Josef Wagner. A year later, their daughter Dorothée was born. The family immigrated to the United States in 1938 and settled in New York, where Lessie Sachs continued to write and publish. Some of her works appeared in the German-Jewish newspaper Aufbau . Lessie Sachs died in 1942. A collection of her poems was published by her husband in New York in 1944 under the title Tag- und Nachtgedichte , with a foreword by Heinrich Mann.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (10 folders)
Abstract
Poems and essays, both published and in manuscript form, as well as correspondence and some personal papers comprise this collection.
Other Finding Aid
An earlier inventory is available in folder 0.
- Bielschowsky, Helene
- Exiled Jewish authors
- Galley proofs
- German poetry
- German poetry -- 20th century
- Jewish women authors
- Jews, German
- Legal documents
- Manuscripts (documents)
- Personal correspondence
- Poems
- Sachs, Lessie
- United States -- Emigration and immigration
- Wagner, Dorothee, 1934-
- Wrocław (Poland)
- Title
- Guide to the Lessie Sachs Collection, 1931-1944 AR 4031
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by LBI Staff
- Date
- © 2010
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- March 21, 2012 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
