Shalom Adler-Rudel Collection

The collection consists of 6 boxes and 46 folders.

Series I contains manuscripts by Adler-Rudel from 1918 to 1966, materials (primarily correspondence) pertaining to specific publications by Adler-Rudel and clippings of articles by him.

Most of the manuscripts (subseries 1) are articles written by Adler-Rudel for primarily Jewish newspapers and periodicals such as "Juedische Arbeiterstimme", "Selbstwehr", "Gemeindeblatt der Juedischen Gemeinde zu Berlin", and "Mitteilungsblatt", however, the subseries also consists of speeches, excerpts from diaries, etc.

The manuscripts are compiled according to year and are written in German, English, and to a smaller extent in Yiddish and Hebrew.

Many of the texts deal with social questions (welfare, education, social policies), such as Jewish youth movements, Zionist matters, the economic situation of Jews in Germany, the situation of Jews in Poland, Jewish emigration (starting from 1933), and after World War II in particular with questions of reparation ("Wiedergutmachung").

The collection includes: "Juedische Arbeiter Jugend" (typescript, 5 pp.) (1919); texts about Poale Tsion such as "Poale Zion in Oesterreich waehrend des Krieges" (typescript, 6 pp.) (1927); "Vortrag im Schulkursus fuer Wohlfahrtspflege" (typescript, 16 pp.) (1934); "Fuersorge fuer das Volk. Der Weg der Sozialarbeit" (typescript, 6 pp.) (1935); several reports on the situation of Jews in Germany in 1936, 1937, 1939; reports from Adler-Rudel's trips to various European countries in 1936; "Proposals for Jewish Emigration from Germany. Submitted by the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland" (typescript, 12 pp.) (1935/36); "Situation der Juden in der Wirtschaft" (typescript, 7 pp.) (1938); "Auslands-Hachscharah im Jahre 1938" (typescript, 5 pp.); a diary of S. Adler-Rudel's visit to Sweden in 1943, focusing in his descriptions on refugee problems (manuscript, 27 pp.); "Palaestinas Beitrag im Kriege" (typescript, 3 pp.) (1943); "Ten Years of Youth Aliyah" (typescript, 12 pp.) (1944); texts about Jewish refugees and displaced persons after World War I; texts pertaining to Adler-Rudel's trips to Europe in 1946; "Negotiations with Germany on Reparations" (typescript, 4 pp.) (1952); texts about the camp of Theresienstadt (e.g. "Di geshikhte fun teresienshtat" (typescript, 6 pp.) (Yiddish) (1955)); "Ostjuden in Deutschland" (typescript, 172+7 pp.) (1958); "Zur Geschichte der Einwanderung auslaendischer Juden nach Deutschland" (typescript, 126+13 pp.) (1958); "Aus der Vorzeit der kollektiven Wiedergutmachung" (typescript, 18 pp.) (1962); "Chronicles of Rescue Efforts" (typescript, 34 pp.) (1966).

The collection also contains obituaries and articles on the occasion of anniversaries pertaining to various people such as David Pinski, Georg Kareski, Wilfrid Israel, Alfred Wiener, Bernhard Kahn, Leo Baeck, Siegfried Moses, Berl Locker, Werner Senator, and Jakob Lestschinsky.

Subseries 2 contains materials (mostly correspondence) pertaining to certain publications e.g. to a biography of Hans Schaeffer (1886-1967) by Eckhard Wandel and the correspondence between Schaeffer and Adler-Rudel from 1938 (published in the Bulletin of the LBI in 1967), and to Adler-Rudels work on the "Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden" ("Juedische Selbsthilfe") (later published as: Juedische Selbsthilfe unter dem Naziregime 1933–1939. Spiegel der Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland. Tuebingen 1974.)

Subseries 3 contains clippings of articles by S. Adler-Rudel.

Series II, the bulk of the collection, consists of Adler-Rudel's private correspondence from 1956 to 1969.

It not only includes letters to Adler-Rudel and drafts or carbon copies of his own letters, but also letters by others, clippings, circulars, and manuscripts by or pertaining to the correspondent / specific person.

It is arranged according to years (subseries 1-4) and in each year according to the Latin alphabet. This arrangement which is presumed to be Adler-Rudel's original order. The transliteration of Hebrew names usually follows German rules (e.g. "Jad Waschem") and certain institutions are listed under their German (not Hebrew or English) name. Subseries 5 holds materials (primarily correspondence, but also clippings and photographs) pertaining to Adler-Rudels 70th and 75th birthday (1964 and 1969).

Subseries 4 holds only single letters of correspondents A-K, i.e. a folder seems to be missing.

Topics dealt with include:

H. G. Adler and his works e.g. "Verheimlichte Wahrheit" (1959); publications by Adler-Rudel (e.g. "Ostjuden in Deutschland"(1958), articles in the "Mitteilungsblatt") by others; matters pertaining to the LBI (publications, meetings, etc.); topics pertaining to the "Council of Jews from Germany" (minutes of meetings, reports, discussing LBI matters, the Wiener Library, cultural activities of council etc.); matters of restitution ("Wiedergutmachung"); personal matters; Claims Conference; Adler-Rudel's 70th and 75th birthday.

Among the correspondents (individuals and institutions) are:

Adler, H.G.; Asaria, Zvi; Bein, Alex; Breslauer, Walter; Brick, Anna (Riwkin); Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation; Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany; Council of Jews from Germany; Dijour, Ilja M.; Fraenkel, Josef; Friedman, Filip; Gerling, Heinz; Goldmann, Nahum; Herlitz, Georg; Heymann, Michael; Hirschberg, Alfred; Historical Society of Israel; Irgun Olei Merkaz Europa); J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck); Jewish Agency; Jewish Trust Corporation for Germany; Joint Distribution Committee; Keren Hayessod; Kreutzberger, Max; Leschnitzer, Adolf; Lestschinsky, Jacob; Loewenstein, Kurt; Loewenthal, Ernst Gottfried; Maitlis, Jakob; Marx, Nathan; Melzer, Joseph; Meyer, Franz; Mitteilungsblatt; Moses, Siegfried; Mueller, Ernst; Nathan, Max; Neubach, Helmut; Paucker, Arnold; Prinz, Arthur; Riegner, Gerhart; Rosenbaum, Eduard; Rosenstock, Werner; Scholem, Gershom; Segall, Jacob; Simon, Ernst; Sokal, S.; Stern, Desider; Sturmann, Manfred; Tartakower, Aryeh; Tramer, Hans; United Restitution Organization; Weltsch, Robert; Werner Kraft; Wiener Library; Wiener, Alfred; Wormann, Curt David; Yad Vashem.

Series III contains materials (primarily correspondence) pertaining specifically to matters of restitution. As former employee of the Jewish community in Berlin and the "Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden", Adler-Rudel supported many people with their individual claims for restitution e.g. by writing affidavits for them.

The documents are arranged alphabetically according to the names of applicants and their cause. It includes primarily correspondence, but also other documents such as copies of affidavits, CVs etc.

Correspondents include:

"Beratungsausschuss fuer Ruhegehaltsansprueche juedischer Gemeindebediensteter (Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany)"; "Bezirksamt fuer Wiedergutmachung"; Freier, Recha; Loewenthal, Ernst Gottfried; Loewenstein, Kurt; Moses, Siegfried; "United Restitution Organization".

A larger part of the series consists of correspondence pertaining not to individuals but to former employees of the Jewish community (Gemeindebeamte) in general and their claims for pensions, among them occupational groups such as kindergarten teachers, rabbis, and choristers.

Series IV contains materials pertaining to the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) from 1954 to 1964, including minutes (primarily of LBI Jerusalem board meetings), circulars of the LBI, activity report (1954-1959), membership list, lists of publications, manuscripts, etc.

The materials pertain to matters such as:

the founding of the LBI, its goals, visions, organization; question of budget; the yearbook and bulletin of the LBI and other publications / planned publications (including evaluations) of the institute such as: "Germania Judaica", translations of works by Leo Baeck, a Leo Baeck memorial book, a Wolfskehl edition, a Mendelssohn edition, Hebrew publications, texts and books by Hans Bach, Gerhard Holdheim, Werner Kraft, Martin Seliger, Jacob Toury and others; cooperation with South American institutions, with German (Jewish) institutions including publishing houses, with the Wiener Library, and with Yad Vashem.

People and institutions mentioned / correspondents include:

Avneri, Zvi; Bach, Hans; Baeck, Leo; Bamberger, Fritz; Blumenfeld, Kurt; Bonne, Alfred; Breslauer, Walter; Buber, Martin; Cohn, Benno; Council of Jews from Germany; Ginsburg, Sigmar; Gruenewald, Max; Holdheim, Gerhard; Irgun Olej Merkaz Europa; Kirschner, Bruno; Kraft, Werner; Kreutzberger, Max; Leo Baeck Institute London; Leo Baeck Institute New York; Leschnitzer, Adolf; Liebesschuetz, Hans; Michaelis, Dolf Paul; Michaelis, Eva; Moses, Siegfried; Muller, Hermann; Reichmann, Hans; Spier, Selmar; Swarsensky, Hardi; Toury, Jacob; Tramer, Hans; Weltsch, Robert; Wormann, Curt David.