Manuscripts (documents)

The collection contains the papers of Nachman Blumental (1902-1983), a Polish-Jewish historian, scholar, and philologist, who after surviving the Holocaust in a non-German occupied part of the Soviet Union travelled around Poland collecting documents and materials related to ghettos, camps, sites of mass murder, and Holocaust survivors. These materials include, among others, survivor testimonies, witness accounts, original Nazi administrative documents, songs, poems, jokes, parodies, folklore, and children’s schoolwork written during the war, oftentimes in camps and ghettos, as well as Blumental’s extensive notes on Nazi terminology and distinct terminology used by Jews in camps and ghettos. The collection consists of correspondence, published and unpublished articles by Nachman Blumental and other individuals, newspaper clippings, research notes, Nazi documents, and dictionary and bibliography note cards.

This collection contains papers of Nokhem Shtif, a Yiddish philologist, editor, literary historian, translator, and political activist, and one of the founders of the YIVO Institute in Vilna. The bulk of the materials pertains to Yiddish language, philology, and literature, as well as to the administration and activities of the Kiev-based Institute of Jewish Proletarian Culture, especially the Philological Section, which was directed by Shtif. The materials include manuscripts of Shtif's writings and speeches; correspondence; reports; meeting minutes; departmental planning documents and course programs/syllabi; materials related to Shtif's teaching of Yiddish stylistics courses; newspaper clippings; several manuscripts of articles and research works by other scholars; and notes, transcriptions, and other research materials, including memoirs related to the lexicographer Y. M. Lifshits.

This collection contains documents of journalist and left-wing political activist Paul Novick, consisting mainly of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts, photographs, and newspaper clippings. These materials relate to Novick’s career as long-time editor of the Morning Freiheit (Morning Freedom), his important role in the worldwide Communist movement, the history of the Freiheit itself, and Jewish and general politics. These materials demonstrate Novick’s important, and changing, role in the history of Communism, as well as his career as a Yiddish journalist and author.

This collection contains manuscripts of plays, articles and other writings, correspondence, memoirs, photographs, theater programs, and personal materials of Yiddish playwright, novelist, journalist, travel writer, and theater director Peretz Hirschbein. The collection helps to illustrate Hirschbein’s importance and lasting impact upon the revival of Yiddish theater and literature in the early twentieth century.

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.

This collection consists of materials that focus on the life and art of Ruth Abrams. Documents include personal papers, writings by Ruth Abrams concerning her art and career, and material concerning exhibits of her artwork. The majority of the documents focus on her series of small-scale paintings known as Microcosms and her related film, Paradox of the Big. The collection also includes many photographs, both personal and of artwork.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Shmuel Niger, including correspondence with many important literary figures, as well as manuscripts by Niger, writings about Niger written by others, Niger’s speeches and lectures, selections from his published writings, and biographical materials. These materials serve to illustrate Niger’s great importance to Yiddish literary criticism and Jewish historical writing as well as his role as a writer on contemporary themes, a teacher and lecturer, editor and communal leader.

This collection contains the papers of Siegfried Bernfeld, a writer, educator, psychoanalyst, organizer of the Zionist youth movement in Austria during and after World War I, and founder of several Jewish educational institutions in Austria. These materials include correspondence, by-laws, minutes, programs, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and financial records of Jewish educational institutions, youth organizations, student clubs, sports, tourism associations, and youth publications, mainly in Austria and Germany, which were collected through the various organizations with which Siegfried Bernfeld was associated and maintained in the Archival institutions which he established.

The collection combines various documents pertaining to the school’s actuality and the diversity of its students from its earliest days in the early 19th century to its 175th anniversary in 1976.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Victor D. Sanua, including published and unpublished articles, materials used in researching these articles, correspondence, and documentation of the various organizations with which Professor Sanua was involved. These materials reflect his work as a psychologist and his active involvement with the history of Jews from Egypt. In addition, there are various materials relating to various Sephardic communities, Israel and the Middle East and cultural factors in mental illness, particularly among Arabs and Jews.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of William Edlin, editor of The Day and a prominent Socialist. It includes correspondence with individuals and with organizations, newspaper clippings, manuscripts of works by Edlin and by others as well as translations done by Edlin, and some of Edlin’s personal documents. These materials relate to Edlin’s involvement with The Day, with the Socialist Party, the Workmen’s Circle, various labor and Zionist organizations, literary clubs and activities, and with music, art and drama.

The collection of author and translator Paul Amann (Prague, 1884 – Connecticut, 1958) contains both personal and professional correspondence and manuscripts. The manuscripts include novels, essays and short stories as well as nonfiction works, translations and one folder of poetry. The collection also contains personal papers and a folder of material from third parties.

This collection contains primarily letters and cards written by Nobel-Prize-winning chemist Paul Ehrlich to his nephew Franz Sachs, as well as some handwritten manuscripts by Ehrlich and some manuscripts and other materials about Ehrlich and commemorative events and societies dedicated to his memory.

The collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings in remembrance (and mostly praise) of Paul Eppstein. Also included are photocopies of official documents pertaining to Eppstein’s academic career.

The Paul J. Jacobi Collection consists of two heavily annotated typescripts, exploring aspects of German-Jewish genealogy and accompanying materials.

The bulk of the collection consists of transcripts of Paul Josephthal’s memoirs 1916-1918 during World War I in Romania, when he commanded a unit of German soldiers as an ‘Etappenkommandant’ (Rear Echelon Commander).

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.

This collection contains a broad range of Mühsam family documents, genealogical materials, and photographs, mostly from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This collection holds the correspondence and papers of the professor Paul Proskauer, his brother Henry (Hans) Proskauer, and to a lesser extent, his parents. Although personal correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection, an additional focus is his and his brother's professional reviews and articles. Further materials include official documents, photo and postcard albums, programs, a diary and newspaper and magazine clippings.

The Paul Schrag Collection contains his personal correspondence, manuscripts, poems and speeches.

This collection documents the life and work of the Paula Baum family. The earliest contents are legal documents from the 18th century. Other material documents the work of David Reiss (1869-1954), who served as Community President in Elmshorn, the emigration of family members, and private and business correspondence. There is also information about the Jewish community of Elsmhorn in the 1930s.

This collection contains materials related to research that Matenko conducted for a publication of correspondence between Rahel and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense and the family of Rahel's brother, Ludwig Robert.

This collection contains several original, handwritten letters, poems, sketches, and other manuscript materials by Altenberg, including one longer manuscript from early in his career. There is also a commemorative print produced by the Wiener Werkstätte and some printed matter about Altenberg's life and work.

The Peter Bloch Collections includes mostly personal materials pertaining to various members of the Bloch family. Included in the collection are correspondence, documents, printed materials, and writings.

Collection of photographs, correspondence and clippings documenting Peter Bloch’s engagement in Hispanic culture and civil rights from the 1940s-1960s. Also included are autographed photographs from actors and others; two U.S. passports; various other documents pertaining to Peter Bloch; as well as his death certificate.

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

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Peter Amann, mostly correspondence but also including family papers, personal and professional writings, publicity materials relating to Peter Amann’s wife, and other personal documents. These materials reflect his role as a professor, author and prominent American historian as well as providing information about the rest of his family, including his father Paul Amann.

The Peter Lipman-Wulf Collection documents the life and professional activities of Peter Lipman-Wulf, a sculptor and a teacher; it includes correspondence, writings and interviews, printed materials, personal, professional, and financial documents, and drawings. The bulk of the collection consists of both, personal and professional correspondence and biographical and professional writings with other types of materials constituting a far smaller portion of the collection.

The collection consists of research materials on the history of Philipp Brothers collected by Helmut Waszkis for his book Philipp Brothers: the Rise and Fall of a Trading Giant, 1901-1990.

This collection is comprised of the papers of the librarian and author Philipp Flesch. It prominently features manuscripts of his writing, which consists of poetry, essays, short stories, and a novel. In addition, the collection holds a small amount of Philipp Flesch's personal and professional correspondence as well as some personal papers, including official documents.