A large and varied collection of approx. 140 paper items, belonging to the Viennese cantor Gerson Herz Margolies (d. 1953) – postcards, letters, certificates, concert programs and posters, and more. Vienna, USA, Palestine, and other places. Early 20th century to the 1950s. German, Yiddish, English, Hebrew, and other languages.

A large and varied collection of items documenting the life and work of Gerson Herz Margolies, cantor of the Tempelgasse synagogue in Vienna.
Included: dozens of postcards, including real-photo postcards, sent to Margolies and his family by friends and colleagues throughout the world; dozens of personal and professional letters, written in various languages (most are handwritten;) dozens of family photographs, and photographs of Margolies himself; a number of personal certificates belonging to Margolies, including an identification card, issued in his name by the Jewish community in Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien;) this card attests to the fact that Margolies served as chief cantor (Oberkantor) in the Grossen Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna at least until the end of June, 1938 (the synagogue was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht pogrom, November 10, 1938;) a eulogy written by Margolies in honor of his late friend, the cantor Don Fuchs (typewritten;) program of a concert with the participation of Margolies, held during the XII. Zionist Congress in Karlsbad; five posters (torn) advertising Margolies' concerts in Vienna, Tel Aviv and elsewhere; citation of honor bestowed on Margolies by the Zionist Organization of America; and more.

Gerson Herz Margolies was born ca. 1885 in Kalvarija, Lithuania. Served as chief cantor in the liberal Tempelgasse Synagogue (Leopoldstädter Tempel), in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. Margolies was a well-known cantor in his day – a tenor who toured extensively, and performed for Jewish communities around the world.
Margolies was a devoted Zionist activist. According to newspaper reports from the period, he immigrated to Palestine in 1935, but apparently did not settle there. Other sources, including an identification card, issued in his name by the Jewish community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien; mentioned above), indicate that Margolies served as the Tempelgasse synagogue cantor at least until June 1938; the synagogue was burnt to the ground during the Kristallnacht pogrom, several months later. Margolies managed to escape to England, and from there he continued on to the USA; he died in New York in 1953, and, in accordance with his last will and testament, was buried in Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. Recordings of his performances, which were never published, are found in the archives of " ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, " in Tel Aviv.

Approx. 140 paper items. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition (posters in fair-poor condition).