World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish

The collection documents the life and various interests of Leon Szalet (Chaim Jehudah Leon Chalette), an engineer/architect from Berlin, who immigrated to the United States via Shanghai. It holds the manuscript of his book Experiment 'E', which is based on his experiences in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, as well as correspondence and legal documents regarding the publication and reviews. Also included are letters Szalet sent to and received from his daughter in Sachsenhausen. Another important part of the collection consists of materials related to Leon Szalet's patented design of prefabricated steel-houses. His involvement in real estate in Berlin is documented as well. The collection also contains Szalet's correspondence as well as a few personal documents.

This collection contains the papers of Julian Hirszhaut, a Yiddish journalist and author of several works about the Holocaust in Poland. He collected a great number of historical documents on this topic, including hundreds of eyewitness accounts, which make up an important part of this collection. The materials in this collection relate to Hirszhaut’s important work gathering documents and testimonies of the Holocaust, as well as to his other professional activities as a journalist.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of historian and bibliographer Philip Friedman. These materials include correspondence with individuals and with organizations, newspaper clippings, subject files, manuscripts of works by Friedman and by others, and some of Friedman’s personal documents. These materials relate to Friedman’s work on the histories of various Jewish communities, particularly those in Poland, and his work gathering source documents about the Holocaust.

The collection relates to the life of Jewish refugees, mostly of German and Austrian origin, in Shanghai primarily between the years 1939-1948. It covers many aspects of their experience, including political and cultural events, relief and charity activities, and self-help. The collection originated from the YIVO exhibition that was organized and displayed in 1947 in Shanghai and later in New York. The collection consists of manuscripts, minutes of meetings, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and printed materials.