Autobiographies (literary works)

The first folder contains photocopies of letters written to Alfred Neumeyer regarding his paper "Bemerkungen zu einer Abaenderung des Edikts vom 10. Juni 1813, die Verhaeltnisse der juedischen Glaubensgenossen im Koenigreiche Bayern betreffend" (Regierungsblatt 1813, Stueck 39, Seite 921). Referat erstattet im Auftrag der größeren und mittleren Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden Bayerns," Augsburg 1914. 33 pp.) (Cf. http://opac.cjh.org:8991/F?func=direct-doc-set&doc_number=000195490 &format=999)

Attached is the carbon copy of a letter from the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem (Max Nathan) to Alfred Neumeyer's son, Alexander Neumeyer from Shavei Zion (1966), who gave copies to the institute, but kept the originalThe second folder contains Alfred Neumeyer's memoirs titled "Erinnerungen". They were written in the Jewish agricultural settlement Avigdor (Argentina) between 1941 and 1944 (typescript, 268+2 pp.) after his emigration from Germany and cover the years 1867 to 1944.

Alfred Neumeyer describes: his childhood in Munich; primary and secondary education; military service; university studies in Berlin and Munich; marriage and domestic life; work as a judge in Munich; Jewish communal activities; establishment of "Verband Bayerischer Israelitischer Gemeinden"; fight against prohibition of ritual slaughter in Bavaria; activities for "Centralverein" and "Reichsvertretung"; forced retirement as judge in 1933; changes in Jewish communal work after 1933; emigration and life in Argentina. (Cf. http://opac.cjh.org:8991/F?func=direct-doc-set&doc_number=000200946 &format=999)

The collection consists of more than 300 autobiographies and supplementary biographical materials, such as correspondence, diaries, and documents collected by YIVO in the interest of Jewish youth research. The autobiographies were assembled through public competitions in 1932, 1934, and 1939 directed at Jewish youth aged 16-22. The collection also contains records of the contest, including lists of the contestants, correspondence with them, reports and clippings.

The Elizabeth W. Trahan Collection documents the personal and professional life of Elizabeth Welt Trahan, who was active as a scholar and writer and taught for several years at various universities in the U.S. Her autobiographical materials, such as her diary, reflect her personal view on Vienna, Austria during World War II. Other papers include personal documents, correspondence, a diary and other autobiographical manuscripts.

The Elk-Zernik Family Collection provides documentation on the lives of several family members, especially Rabbi Max (Meir) Elk, dentist Benjamin Elk, Helmut Zernik and Charlotte Elk Zernik. The collection also holds the written compositions of several family members, including the sermons and articles of Max Elk and the autobiographical writing of Charlotte Elk Zernik. Other material includes a photo album and family photographs, a scrapbook, official papers and certificates, letters, some correspondence and clippings.

The collection contains contains various materials pertaining to Eugen (Yitzhak) Neter, collected by Shlomo Marcus.

This collection holds the personal documents and written works of Eva Dukes, an Austrian Jew who escaped Nazi persecution and immigrated to the United States. In her later years, Eva wrote extensively about her early life in Austria, her family, and her experiences facing the rise of Naziism in Europe. Along with her writings, this collection includes photographs, official documents, correspondence, restitution papers, and other materials pertaining to the life of Eva Dukes.

"Mein Weg von Karlsruhe ueber Heidelberg nach Haifa" is the memoir of Frieda Hirsch (née Goldberg) (1890- ). She describes the history of her parents, her upbringing in Karlsruhe as daughter of a well-to-do Jewish-orthodox family, her education at a humanistic high school (Gymnasium), her university studies (medicine) in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Breslau (1908-1913), and life during World War I in Karlsruhe and Heidelberg. She married Albert Hirsch (1887-1954) in 1915, a medical student and member of the Zionist student organization "Verein Juedischer Studenten" and settled in Heidelberg, where Albert worked as a pediatrician. Frieda Hirsch tells about life in Heidelberg, the births and upbringing of her children, various friendships (among others with Georg Hermann, Frieda Reichmann, Erich Fromm, and Eugen Taeubler), Zionist activities of her husband, and first anti-Semitic persecutions in Heidelberg in 1933. She gives detailed testimony of her emigration from Heidelberg via Salzburg and Triest to Haifa, where the family settled, of the difficult first years in Palestine with her husband opening a new medical office, and describes her experiences during World War II in Haifa, the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 and moving to Kiryat Ono after her husband's death in 1954.

The second text, an attachment of Hirsch's memoir, contains a genealogical table and a detailed history of Frieda Hirsch's (née Goldberg) and Albert Hirsch's families.

The collection contains various documents pertaining to Fritz Frank, most of them manuscripts written by him, and comprises 16 folders.

This collection contains various materials pertaining to the Jewish boarding school ("Landschulheim Herrlingen").

The MACHAL, the acronym for “mitnadvei hutz laAretz” ("Volunteers from Abroad"), consisted of about 3500 men and women from over 40 countries from a variety of social and religious backgrounds who volunteered to fight for the establishment of Israel. This collection is unique in that it deals specifically with the experience of MACHAL and Aliyah Bet volunteers from Canada and the United States and others living in the United States. The collections consists of files on 500 volunteers, over 2000 original and reproduction photographs, numerous audio-visual material, books, manuscripts, and memoirs.

Original manuscripts, off-prints, and clippings with articles by or about Meier Spanier. Also included are a bibliography as well as biographical and genealogical texts.

Benjamin Eichler was a rabbi and leader of the Jewish community in Bratislava, Slovakia. This collection includes Rabbi Eichler’s memoirs and some of his personal papers, as well as materials he collected documenting Jewish life in Slovakia. Notable among these is the pinkas (community record book) of Liptovsky Mikulas, also known as Liptau, and the records of cemeteries and mass graves in Slovakia.

This collection contains articles by Michal Weichert, parts of his memoir, and testimonies submitted on his behalf during his trials following WWII. The articles and manuscripts of his memoir illustrate aspects of his life before WWII, where he was an active and important director in the Yiddish theater in Poland. The testimonies and court materials shed light on his struggles to clear himself from charges that he collaborated with the Nazi authorities during the Holocaust in the course of his work distributing aid to Jewish refugees.

This collection consists of materials pertaining to Paul Muehsam (1876-1960) and the research of Else Levi-Muehsam (1910-2004), Paul Muehsam's daughter, on her family history.

The file contains various documents relating to Recha Freier and her activities in Youth Aliyah in Germany.

The collection contains various material pertaining to the Rosin family and comprises 12 folders.