Jews -- Czechoslovakia

This collection contains the records of the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews, an organization founded in 1961, in New York City, by members of the Joseph Popper unit of B’nai B’rith, to foster and disseminate knowledge about the history and culture of Jews in the Czech and Slovak lands. Along with the Joseph Popper unit and, later, the Holocaust Survivors of Slovakia, the society sponsored an annual memorial service held in New York City to honor Czechoslovak Jews who perished in the Holocaust. A majority of the records are from the tenure of Rabbi Norman Patz as president (1994-2008). The materials primarily comprise correspondence, and items related to the annual memorial service, including texts of addresses, and yizkor memorial booklets. Also included are meeting minutes, letters to the membership, financial reports, writings, speeches, obituaries, clippings, photographs, and printed ephemera. The society's correspondence reflects its participation in cultural events related to Czech and Slovak Jewish history, as well as its relationship to the Jewish communities in the Czech Republic and, to a lesser extent, Slovakia; some correspondence with members contains genealogical information.

The collection contains two manuscripts, demographic and sociological studies with numerous statistics e.g. on birth and death rates, gender, health, education etc. by Bruno Blau, on the Jewish population of the Czech Republic in 1938, and on the Jewish population in Germany between 1800 and 1945.

The Hugo Fantl Collection provides a brief glimpse into the life of businessman Hugo Fantl as well as a more detailed view of his family's restitution claims. Included are papers of Hugo Fantil such as official, military, professional and financial documents, restitution correspondence and legal papers.

The collection holds the correspondence of Emil Lederer to his family and friends in Czechoslovakia. Emil had emigrated to Canada and tried to establish his own farm. The collection also holds manuscripts for a book and several plays written by Emil’s mother Paula Lederer, who published under the name Paul Lederer.

Most of this collection consists of correspondence between the Käuflers in Ecuador and acquaintances in their hometown of Prostějov (Prossnitz); there are also two ship passenger lists from the year 1939.

The collection contains various documents pertaining to Peter Freund and his activity as a rabbi, scholar, and writer.

This collection primarily contains the correspondence of the Winn and Taussig families of Czechoslovakia and the United States.