Anschriften- und Branchen-Verzeichnis der Angehörigen des jüdischen Volke in Wiesbaden und seiner Vororte [A list of addresses and places of business of members of the Jewish people in Wiesbaden and its surroundings]. Wiesbaden: Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt, 1935. German.
A pocket book that was printed for the members of the Nazi Party in Wiesbaden (southwest Germany), with the names and personal details of more than 2500 Jews. Divided into three sections (alphabetically ordered): a list of names (with the marital status, profession and address of each one of the Jews); a list of businesses and professions (with the name of their owners and their addresses); and a list of Jewish organizations in the town (with details of their members, their positions and general information about the organization and its activities). At the foot of each page is an anti-Semitic idiom, cited from speeches of senior members of the Nazi party or from German tradition.
The city of Wiesbaden, the capital of the State of Hessen, was home to one of the most ancient Jewish communities in Germany. The first Jews arrived there already during the 14th century and in the early 20th century, three communities existed there at the same time: an orthodox community, a reform community and a community of Eastern-European immigrants ("Ostjuden"). Subsequent to the events of Kristallnacht, the synagogues of the three communities were destroyed, hundreds of Jews, residents of the town, were arrested and dozens were killed. Most of the Wiesbaden Jews were sent to extermination camps in Poland until June 1942. For many years, archives in Germany found it hard to make a complete list of the names of the Wiesbaden Jews who perished in the Holocaust, the available sources enabling the generation of partial lists only. In 2001, a staff of the Wiesbaden archive discovered in this book approximately 470 names that were not documented elsewhere.
265 pp, without pages 127-128 (a blank leaf, meant for handwritten comments). Approx. 14 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, a few creases and small tears to the margins. Tears to the front endpaper, reinforced with tape. Handwriting on the last pages and on the back cover. Blemishes and open tears to the cover and spine. The entire cover was covered with tape, for restoration and preservation.
Not in OCLC.
For additional information about the book, see: Personen- und bevölkerungsgeschichtliche Quellen in Kommunalarchiven, edited by Marcus Stumpf and Katharina Tiemann. Munster: LWL-Archivamt für Westfalen, 2015. Pp. 117-124. German.

Approx. 45 letters that were exchanged between the leaders of the Jewish community of Vienna and the authorities in Nazi Germany, the maritime travel company and Jewish aid organizations, during the voyage of the refugee ships SS Caribia and SS Königstein to the Caribbean, their wandering from port to port and finally – their safe arrival in Venezuela. The letters document the stations of the journey, the transfer of money and names of dozens of the passengers. Vienna, Paris, Hamburg and elsewhere, January-June 1939. German (one letter is in English).
During the late 1930s, the Nazi party promoted a policy of forced Jewish emigration out of the Reich. The Central Office for Jewish Emigration, headed by Adolf Eichmann, organized several "transports" to foreign countries, these being funded by means of the passengers' travel fee and money from Jewish aid organizations. The Jewish community of Vienna, whose leaders recognized the danger the Jews of Germany and Austria were in, mediated between the Jewish organizations and the German authorities and did its best to safely lead the ships of refugees to other countries.
The ships SS Caribia and SS Königstein left the port of Hamburg in the months of January and February 1939, with approx. 85 Jews on board of one and approx. 165 on board of the other. Their original destinations were the Island of Trinidad and British Guiana; however, during the voyage, the passengers were notified that the entrance to these destinations was forbidden. Subsequently, the ships were forced to wander for weeks from port to port, being rejected by various authorities time and again and the crew blackmailing the passengers in each and every station.
In an effort to prevent the return of the ships to Germany at any cost, the Jewish community of Vienna tried to raise funds for the continuation of the journey (whose price increased daily), locate a country that will agree to accept the refugees and collect money for the entrance of each and every passenger to a safe harbor. Despite the aid organizations being angered by the heavy costs and the order given by Germany to bring the ships back to Europe, the Jewish community eventually succeeded in bringing the SS Caribia and the SS Königstein to a country that agreed to receive them – Venezuela.
Before us are approx. 45 letters and copies of letters, typewritten or mimeographed, documenting the activity of the leaders of the Vienna community during the weeks of the journey. Among the letters: • Letter from 24.1 to the Central Office for Jewish Emigration – report about the terms that were agreed on with the Red Star Line travel company and about the change of destination from Trinidad to Barbados. Enclosed with the letter is a list of passengers, with 77 names (in two copies). • Letter from 24.2, by the representatives of the Joint organization to the leaders of the Jewish community of Vienna – an update on the situation of the two ships: the SS Caribia was forbidden to dock in Trinidad and received permission to enter Venezuela while the SS Königstein was forbidden to dock in Barbados and was voyaging at sea. • Letter from 6.3, by the Jewish aid organization HICEM to the community – an update on the situation of the ships: the passengers of the SS Caribia were permitted to disembark the ship in Venezuela; the SS Königstein, however, was still at sea and might be allowed to enter Ecuador. At the end of the letter there is an announcement: additional funds will not be transferred by any Jewish organization even if the passengers were brought back to Germany. • Copy of an urgent telegram from 6.3, by the community to the HICEM organization – warning against the immediate danger the passengers will be in if they are brought back to Germany. • Letter from 13.3, from the HICEM organization to the community, announcing that, due to the telegram, a temporary permission to dock in Venezuela was given to the SS Königstein and that a representative was sent to prevent the captain of the ship from bringing it back to Germany. • Two letters from 15.3, which were sent by the passengers of the SS Königstein after they disembarked the ship in Venezuela: a letter of complaint to the Red Star Line travel company, detailing the exaggerated price they had to pay, the violation of agreements and the terrible treatment they had received by the crew (English); a letter of appreciation to the leaders of the Jewish community of Vienna, with a report about the situation of the passengers and the help they were receiving. • And more.
Some of the letters were sent after the arrival of the passengers to Venezuela. These letters document the attempts of the Red Star Line company to extort additional money from the Jewish organizations and the work relations between the Jewish community of Vienna and The Central Office for Jewish Emigration (one letter is addressed directly to the head of The Central Office for Jewish Emigration, Adolf Eichmann).
Several letters are signed and dated by a stamp of the Jewish community of Vienna, and in several letters, there are lines or passages marked by hand. Some of the letters are signed in print or addressed to the head of the Jewish community of Vienna, Josef Lowenherz; possibly, the complete correspondence was managed by him. Some letters appear in several copies.
Approx. 45 letters and copies of letters and one telegram. Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition. Stains and creases. Small tears along edges. Open tears in some of the letters (most of them small, along edges and not affecting text). A long horizontal tear to one letter. Filed in a cardboard folder (old, with stains, creases and open tears in the corners).

Long letter (three typewritten pages) documenting the first stages of the Holocaust of the Jews of France and the state of affairs within the French concentration camp Drancy. Drancy (France), 1941. Yiddish.
Presumably, the letter before us was meant to be the first of a series of letters, which were planned to be sent secretly, documenting what was happening in the concentration camps. At the beginning of the letter, the writer notes: "Two weeks ago we resolved to write weekly about the events that are to befall us. I had already taken upon myself to write about all the events since June of 1940, and have meanwhile written the weekly events on notes or on cards. Thereby, the general accounts that I have started to write, together with these weekly letters, will represent a comprehensive Sefer Hazikaron [Memorial Book]". In order to ensure the letters being preserved, the writer implores the addressee to prepare two additional copies and send them to other acquaintances – "the banker" and "the lawyer".
At the beginning of the letter, the writer attempts to form a general picture of the situation outside the camp (arrests in the streets and coffee shops of Paris, visiting attempts by family members) and then turns to a detailed documentation of the living conditions at the Drancy concentration camp: sleeping for months on concrete floors, food rations (a piece of bread weighing 275 gr. per day), the punishments (head shaving, solitary confinement, being chained) and additional issues.
A large part of the letter is dedicated to describing the protest by Jewish physicians at the camp (who were solely responsible for treating the prisoners, with no means or medicines), after which an order was given to release 388 prisoners whose condition was especially bad.
Throughout the letter, a man called "Bradati" [Polish: "The Bearded"] is mentioned several times. This nickname is attributed to David Rappaport, the head of the French aid organization Comite rue Amelot, and possibly, the writer was a member of the organization.
The Drancy concentration camp was established in August 1941 near Paris. In the camp stood a single four-story concrete structure, which originally served the French police and was designed to accommodate up to 700 people. At first, the Germans sent only foreign Jews to the camp; yet later, French citizens were also sent there, so that it held thousands of prisoners. Since August 1942, the prisoners started being sent to extermination camps in the east.
3 pp (typewritten on separate leaves), approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. A few creases and stains. Small tears to edges. An open tear to the upper-right corner of each of the leaves (not affecting text). Several handwritten corrections.
For a translation of the letter into English and additional information, see enclosed material.

Three issues and a title page of the newspaper "Arbeiter-Zeitung", issued by the "Poalei Zion" (Workers of Zion) party during the Holocaust. These include information about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a call to join the struggle against the Germans, reports from the branches of the organization in Europe and Palestine, and more. [Grenoble, (France)], 1943-1944. Yiddish.
The newspapers before us were printed in the midst of World War II by one of the most prominent organizations of the Jewish underground – the "Poalei Zion" party. Its members were active in Poland, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland and took part in the partisan warfare, document forging and smuggling supplies. One of the most important channels of activity of the organization was the underground publications, the distribution of which the Germans vigorously attempted to prevent. These publications, printed by most meager means and often at risk of death, were used to distribute information about Jewish uprisings, Germany's defeats at the various fronts and Germans' actions in the Eastern camps, and to explicitly call for Jewish rebellion.
Before us are four newspapers printed at various stages of the war in France: two were printed under the Nazi occupation, one during the struggle for the release of France and the last newspaper in free France. The issues include articles about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, calls to join the struggle against the Germans, news items from the "Poalei Zion" branches across Europe and documentation of the connection between the underground organization and Palestine.
1. Title page of issue no. 1, from September 1943 (typewritten) with a long article about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: the conditions prior to the uprising, the balance of power between the parties, the damage the rebels caused the Germans, and more. This article is one of the first reports of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (printed approx. four months after the events).
At the bottom of the page, a telegram that was sent from Warsaw to Palestine: greetings from the rebels to Palestine, a request for assistance and ammunition and an announcement about the death of an additional member. Addressed to "Zerubavel" (Ya'akov Zerubavel?). [1] leaf (one printed page), approx. 27 cm.
2. A festive issue for May 1, from April 1944 (typewritten). Under the name of the newspaper, slogans and calls for an anti-fascist protest were printed: "Death to fascism and Hitlerite barbarity", "Begone imperialism and oppression", "Long live the national and socialist freedom of the Jewish nation", and more. Then a short "manifest" for Jewish youth in Europe was printed, calling to join the struggle, along with reports about party branches in Europe and Palestine. [4] pp, approx. 27 cm.
3. An issue from August 1944 (typewritten and mimeographed). Includes one long article surveying the activity of the Mapai party and the workers' movement in Palestine. Signed "Zerubavel" (Ya'akov Zerubavel?). 4 pp, approx. 27 cm.
4. Issue from October 1944 (typewritten and mimeographed). Includes several articles, among them articles about prisoners of war and She'erit Hapletah (by "H. Binder"), the hatred of Zionists in the Bund movement (by "S. Leifer"), the establishment of a socialist front in Palestine (by "A. Litvak"), the liberation of the Drancy camp; and additional articles. [8] pp, approx. 30.5 cm.
The place of printing is not noted on the newspapers; however, the issue from October notes the address of the publishing house in the city of Grenoble (southern France) and presumably, the newspaper was printed there throughout the entire war.
Condition varies. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes. Tears along edges (most of them small). Tear to on leaf, restored on verso. Handwriting on the leaves of two of the issues. The issue from October 1944 is in good-fair condition, with tears and open tears to margins (small, not affecting text), two leaves are detached and one leaf has strips of tape along the margins on verso. The last leaf is bound upside down.
For translation of the newspapers into English and additional information about the "Poalei Zion" party in occupied France, see enclosed material.

A canopy (Chupah) that was made by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee for Holocaust Survivors in the DP Camps. Made in Palestine, [the middle-late 1940s].
The canopy is made of blue cloth with an embroidered star-of-David in its center with the Hebrew word "Zion", and around it the Hebrew verse: "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (Jeremiah 33: 11). In the lower-left corner, embroidered in gold lettering is the Hebrew inscription "Joint A.J.D.C., made in Palestine". A metal loop is attached to each of the four corners, for spreading the canopy on poles.
During the years 1945-1949, the Joint manufactured approx. 100 canopies for residents of the DP camps. The urgent need for food, clothes and medicine left the organization with few resources for preparing Jewish ceremonial objects and these were manufactured in little quantities only. The few canopies that were made were transferred between the various camps in Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Greece, and under them, hundreds of weddings for Jewish couples who had survived the war and wanted to start a new life were conducted.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee was established in 1914 in order to assist Jews in danger all over the world. After World War II, the Joint was one of the first organizations that lent a hand to Holocaust survivors (in fact, the representatives of the Joint reached Europe already in 1944, before the end of the war) and its activity is considered one of the most important contributions to the rehabilitation of European Jewry after the war.
Approx. 140X142 cm. Good condition. Minor stains.
An identical canopy is exhibited at the World Holocaust Remembrance Center of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
See enclosed material.