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Rabbi Leo Baeck research collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 4151

Scope and Content Note

A. The first part of the collection deals with personal papers of Leo Baeck and his family. A family tree of family Wiener includes Leo and Nathalie Baeck and their descendants. A list of possessions of Leo Baeck that were saved after his deportation to Theresienstadt in January of 1943 is to be found in A.10. (14 items) 

B. Letters by Leo Baeck: 

B. I to family (32 items/1921-1952/all in German 

B. II to personalities A-Z: includes Emil Bernhard-Cohn, Martin Buber, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich, Ismar Elbogen, Geis, J.H. Hertz, Hirsch, Rudolf Jaser, Fritz Kaufmann, Rudolf Loeb, Else Nathan, Dr. Senator (all in German/ 19 items/ 1907-1952. 

B. III Correspondence Leo Baeck and Baron Hans-Hasso von Veltheim-Ostrau: 148 letters and postcards, 1923-1947, all in German. 

C. Letters to Leo Baeck and to Ruth Berlak: 22 items include: Robert Baeck, Friedrich Brodnitz, Rudolf Callmann, Ernest Conrad, Albert Einstein (letter refers to Martha Mosse accusing her to have been an agent of the GESTAPO), Lois Elkan, Hans Lamm, Max Loewenthal, Gerhard Scholem, Herbert Strauss, Hertha Vogelstein, 1940s and 1950s. 

D. Writings by and about Leo Baeck: 

D.I. Essays, sermons, prayers by Leo Baeck: 35 items mostly on Jewish theological issues, incl. Festschrift for "B’nei B’rith’s 50th anniversary. 

D.II. Writings, speeches about Leo Baeck: 15 items include G. Salzberger, Edwin Guggenheim, Kurt Alexander, Montagu, Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, Marianne Dreyfus, S.H. Bergmann, Alexander Schreiber, Kurt Schwerin, N. Peter Levinson, Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss, Fritz Frielaender. - Manuscripts by Fritz Friedlaender, Stanley Dreyfus, Marianne C. Dreyfus, Kurt Alexander, containing personal recollections about Leo Baeck. 

E. National Socialism 1933-1945: 

E. I Material on the "Reichsvertretung" (4 items: memorandi and discussion between Otto Hirsch, Leo Baeck, Georg Kareski and others. 

E. II. Theresienstadt: Manuscript by anonymous author: "Theresienstadt". Undated; French with English translation; ca. 55 p. each language; typed. Essay describing life in the concentration camp. Also: colored drawing of mosaic floor. 

E. III Institut fuer Zeitgeschichte Muenchen: Research by Leonard Baker June 1974: 32 documents relating to NS and Jews. 

E. IV Single reports: Central-Verein (3 items). 

F. Varia: 4 letters and 4 essays. 

G. Research papers Leonard Baker: cards and notes. 

Dates

  • 1881-1977

Creator

Language of Materials

This collection is in German, English, French, and Hebrew.

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

Born in Pittsburgh on January 24, 1931, Leonard Baker studied journalism at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University. He worked as a journalist and author, and wrote several books, including Days of Sorrow and Pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews (New York, 1978). He died on November 26, 1984.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Abstract

Material, mostly photocopies, assembled by Baker for his biography of Leo Baeck, including personal documents; correspondence of Baeck with family members and others, including Martin Buber, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich, Ismar Elbogen, Joseph Herman Hertz, Fritz Kaufmann, and Baron Hans-Hasso von Veltheim; manuscripts and clippings by and about Baeck; records of the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland; an anonymous report about Theresienstadt; and other documents from the Nazi period from the Institut fuer Zeitgeschichte and elsewhere.

Other Finding Aid

23-page inventory.

General

Other identifiers include: AR 4851.

Title
Guide to the Leo Baeck research collection, 1881-1977 AR 4151
Status
Completed
Date
© 2009
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

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