----------------------- Message requiring your approval ----------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [ha-Safran]: Testaments to the Holocaust
TESTAMENTS TO THE HOLOCAUST
From the Wiener Library, London
External Editor: Ben Barkow, Director
The Testaments to the Holocaust digital collection offers a uniquely
flexible and detailed research resource covering the domestic policies of
Nazi Germany, Jewish life in Germany from 1933 to after the war, Nazi
propaganda, life in the concentration camps, emigration and refugee
life. The post-war publications document the slow emergence of
Holocaust-related issues as topics of academic discourse. More than 4,000
rare photographs found within the database are included both for the
information they contain and for their immediacy and impact.
The digital collection contains content from The Wiener Library, the
world's oldest Holocaust memorial institution. Alfred Wiener (1885-1964),
a leading figure in the Central Verein, Germany's largest Jewish civil
rights organization, had campaigned against the Nazis since the early 1920s
before fleeing his homeland in 1933. Wiener was a German Jew, born in
Potsdam, who had studied Arabic literature to doctorate level, and spent
the years 1907-09 traveling in the Middle East. In Amsterdam he
established the Jewish Central Information Office, which after its transfer
to London in 1939, became known as "Dr. Wiener's Library" and later as the
Wiener Library. The Library played a leading role in alerting the world to
the true nature of the Nazi regime before 1939. In the war years it formed
one of the British Government's chief sources of detailed information about
the structure of the regime and the personalities of its leaders.
The digital collection contains:
· Eyewitness accounts
· Rare photographs
· Nazi propaganda materials
· Limited-circulation publications and rare printed serials.
The more than 1,200 unpublished eyewitness accounts contained in this
indispensable collection allow the voices of the Nazi persecution victims
to speak out in their own words. This series of reports has never before
been published and will enable students and scholars to examine unique and
often moving personal accounts of:
· The early phase of persecution including the April 1933 Boycott
· The November 1938 Pogrom
· Life in hiding
· Life in the concentration camps
· Emigration and the life of refugees
The uniqueness of these accounts lies in the early date at which they were
collected--when the memories were fresh and raw. They predate the coining
of the term "Holocaust" to describe the Nazi genocide. As narratives, they
are not influenced by the mass of scholarly research, popular writing and
film and television programs produced since the mid-1960s. Also included are:
Rare photograph archive
The Wiener Library includes 4,000 photographs documenting in a highly
personal and poignant way the destruction of the European Jews. The
collection includes:
· Family albums recording the lives that were destroyed
· Images of the rise of Nazi Germany
· Photographic evidence of the persecution and murder of the Jewish
people
· Images of post-war work with survivors and Displaced Persons and
the reconstruction of Jewish life
Nazi propaganda materials
The Nazi Party used a broad range of propaganda material to systematically
degrade and discriminate against Jewish people in the 1930s. The extremely
rare propaganda material, produced by and for the Nazi regime from 1933 to
1945, includes:
· Books on the Third Reich and Hitler
· "Scientific studies" covering topics such as eugenics and morphology
· Calendars by Nazi organizations
· School textbooks
· A four-volume anti-Semitic encyclopedia
Also included in this material are four extremely rare examples of
propaganda books, which feature stereoscopic viewers for viewing images in 3D.
Limited-circulation library publications
The collection also contains several volumes of bulletins that were written
by the library's own staff between 1934 and 1965. This material was
disseminated throughout Europe before, during and after the war. Its aim
was to inform Jews, both inside and outside Nazi-controlled territories,
about the situation in Germany and the rest of Europe. The publication of
these bulletins enables examination of issues such as:
· Radicalization of Nazi persecution of Jews before 1939
· The progress of the war reflected in juxtaposed extracts from Nazi
and other writings
· The persecution of Jews and the struggle to maintain Jewish life
· The reconstruction of Jewish life and the development of the
scholarly study of the Holocaust
Of particular interest to scholars are the mimeographed reports from the
Wiener Library in Amsterdam, produced between 1934 and 1939.
Gain deeper insight into Nazi Life
This will promote a greater understanding of issues such as:
· The domestic policies of Nazi Germany
· The impact of the Nazi regime on Jewish people
· Life for Jewish people both before, during and after the Nazi regime
· The all-pervasive use of Nazi propaganda
· Life inside the concentration camps
· Life in hiding from the Nazis
Illustrated Volumes
The materials gathered demonstrate the range and ingenuity of Nazi
propaganda. The illustrated books and pamphlets offer examples both of
propaganda in favor of the Nazis as well as against their political and
'racial' enemies. Particularly striking is the bulk of material designed to
promote the cult of personality around Hitler. He is seen on parade, giving
speeches, on trains, in cars, in the air, opening autobahns, relaxing in
his mountain retreat, greeting crowds and patting children. One publication
is devoted entirely to photographic studies of his hands.
Another major theme of this material is the rise of Germany from the ruins
of the First World War and the economic crises of the 1920s. Germany is
depicted 'between night and day', May 1933 is presented as the 'first
German May', and ordinary people are depicted as falling gratefully into
line behind the National Socialist saviours of Germany. The industrial
worker is glorified, as is the peasant, the road-builder and the sports
person. On every front the Nazi will is shown in triumph. In one
extraordinary--and not repeated--experiment, the Nazis attempted to
demonstrate their sense of humour, in a volume showing innocuous cartoon
satires of Hitler. A note in the book assures retailers that the product
has Party approval.
From the late 1930s there is material about the 'liberation' of the Saar,
Austria and the Sudetenland. Among the happy images of Nazi progress and
victory there are other more sinister ones: a volume showing the constant
readiness of the police, several displaying the steadily growing might of
the armed forces, and one volume devoted to the enemy: the sub-humanity of
the East. This grotesque publication, issued by the SS, features horrific
pictures of mangled corpses and starving children and carries the message
that the Nazis are fighting in order to prevent Germany being overrun by
such atrocities.
More than any other propaganda item in the collection this book illustrates
the soulless cynicism of the regime.
Nazi Calendars
The collection provides calendars produced by Nazi organizations
demonstrates against the regime's overriding concern with propaganda.
Featured are examples produced by the Hitler Youth, the SA, the SS, the
Office of Racial Politics, the Strength through Joy organization and others.
Anti-Semitic Encyclopedia
Sigilla Veri, a very rare encyclopedic work of anti-Semitism, was compiled
by Philipp Stauff, who also produced a reference work called
Semi-Kürschner, the title referring to Joseph Kürschner's annual German
Literary Calendar, which was known as the Kürschner. The 'Semi' in the
title is supposed to refer to 'Semites', the Semi-Kürschner being
strenuously anti-Semitic. Sigilla Veri might have remained obscure and
little known but for the fact that it was taken up and published by
U-Bodung Verlag, owned by Ullrich Fleischhauer, who became famous as a
defence witness at the trial in Bern, Switzerland in 1935 of distributors
of the notorious anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Fleischhauer was also the publisher of a periodical called Weltdienst,
again violently anti-Semitic. For a number of years Fleischhauer was
secretly funded by the Nazi Party, as were a number of similar
organisations. Eventually all such organisations were incorporated into the
propaganda empire of Joseph Goebbels.
Sigilla Veri was planned to run to six volumes. In the event only four were
completed. The fifth volume, included in this collection, is extremely
rare, having been produced several years after the others. In itself it is
incomplete, breaking off in the middle of an entry on Walter Rathenau.
Sigilla Veri was never available in shops: it could only be ordered direct
from the publisher. Anyone buying a copy was required to sign a declaration
that 'I am not of Jewish descent, have no Jewish blood nor Jewish
relatives. I pledge myself not to sell or present this book to anyone. I
give my word of honour that I am not acting as a man of straw for anyone.'
Hitler Youth
Propaganda aimed at children and young people was seen as extremely
important by the Nazis. Hitler stated that he wanted "a violently active,
dominating, brutal youth," without too much education: "knowledge is ruin
to my young men."
The majority of the publications featured in the collection relate to the
Hitler Youth, but the Bund Deutscher Mädel is represented by a publication
from the Ostmark--annexed Austria.
Songbooks
The Nazi regime regarded singing and songs as a vehicle for domination. The
songbooks featured were produced by various organizations: the Party, the
SA, the SS, NSBO, NS Frauenschaft. The lyrics extol the glories of the
Reich and the Führer and threaten destruction to racial enemies. If these
songs were intended to unite the faithful and strengthen their unthinking
commitment to the regime, other--unpublished--songs were used in
concentration camps as a means to further the dehumanization and
demoralization of inmates. Many camps, including the German concentration
camp Buchenwald and the Polish extermination camp Treblinka, had special
songs of their own. Inmates were made to sing as they marched to and from
forced labor, and were accompanied by music on their way to executions. It
is somehow characteristic of the Nazi regime that it turned music, which to
most people is a consolation and blessing, into a torment and curse.
Educational Books
The infiltration of Nazi ideology into the education system in Germany was
one of the most pernicious and damaging ways in which the regime sought to
mould the thinking of the population.
Naturally, some of this material is not dissimilar to that of earlier or
later eras: German children were taught things that children all over the
world were and are taught. But a glimpse into biology textbooks reveals the
extent to which education was distorted to serve ideology. Der Giftpilz
(The Poison Mushroom) is devoted solely to demonizing Jews. Der
Pudelmopsdackelpinscher (the title conflates the names of four breeds of
dog) is about the dangers of interbreeding the human 'race'. The
collection also features history, mathematics, geography, reading books,
and some coloring books for very young children, songbooks for children and
theoretical works for teachers.
Eyewitness Accounts
Much of the works was gathered in the weeks and months after the November
Pogrom of 1938 and comprises reports ranging in length from just a few
lines to several pages, some signed, most anonymous. This documentation is
extremely valuable, having been written immediately after the Pogrom, in
some cases within a day or two.
Much larger portions of the collection was assembled over a period of ears
from 1955 onwards. This collection covers most aspects of Nazi persecution,
from random attacks on individuals in early 1933 to the incarceration of
around 30,000 Jewish men after the November Pogrom, to the concentration
and extermination camps in Poland during the war. Some of the accounts are
based on interviews, others were specially written for the collection by
the eyewitness, others still are in the form of contemporary letters or
documents donated by eyewitnesses.
A remarkable feature of this collection is the time at which it was
assembled. The 1950s marked something of a low-point in interest in these
matters; most people, including survivors, wanted to forget and to get on
with building new lives. It was, compared with the 1970s, 80s and 90s a
relatively 'silent' era. Forgetting was all. The self-selected group who
chose to contribute to the collection bucked this general trend. Their
testimony is in certain respects more valuable than some collected in later
decades: memories were fresher in the 1950s, stories less worn with
repetition. These accounts are not influenced by present day social
attitudes towards the Holocaust. In fact, neither the word "Holocaust" or
"Shoah" is to be found in the collection: these terms were not in use at
the time. Many of the accounts are surprising for the tone of irony and
even mild humour in which they are couched. This is best explained as a
distancing device, adopted to cope with unbearably painful memories. Some
writers speak in the plainest language, others adopt highly literary
styles. The material is endlessly fascinating, profoundly moving and forms
a great monument to the suffering and courage of those who contributed.
The Eyewitness Accounts section has been filmed following the order of the
original 'P-Scheme' file. At the beginning of each eyewitness account the
accompanying index card from the 'P-Scheme' file has been filmed; please
note that these cards may carry incorrect information with regards to the
number of pages, which the corresponding eyewitness account contains.
Photographs
The photographic collection covers a number of eras and topics. The first
material relates to the pre-Nazi era and comprises family albums
documenting the domestic life of Central European Jews, mostly middle class
and prosperous before the Nazis seized power. These are followed by more
general photographs of life in Weimar Germany, showing periods of civil
unrest, poverty caused by inflation and so on. This is followed by material
relating to Nazi election campaigns, Hitler as a public speaker, and the
Nazi era.
Jewish life is further documented in a collection of picture postcards and
photographs of Europe's synagogues, very many of them destroyed in the war
(or even before, in the November Pogrom). There is also a collection,
formed by the Jewish Central Information Office in Amsterdam, of memorials
to Jewish dead of World War I. The purpose of this was to counter a common
accusation against Jews that they avoided front-line duty during the Great
War and protected themselves in safe postings well away from danger. In
fact Jews died in the same proportion as every other grouping in Germany.
Nazi persecution of Jews is documented in a series of distressing (some
extremely so) images. These show the activities of Einsatzgruppen death
squads, conditions in ghettos and finally in concentration camps.
Welfare work with Displaced Persons (DPs) is also documented. The
photographic section ends with two collections of biographical index cards
(mostly illustrated) of major figures in the Nazi Party, military and SS
hierarchies.
In all, the Testaments to the Holocaust provide the basis for studying Nazi
Germany and its crimes against the Jews from any number of
perspectives. It does not offer answers but rather a wealth of raw
materials for students and researchers to explore and work with in their
effort to reach their own conclusions. Wit its intuitive interface and
easy-to-use search functionality, Testaments to the Holocaust offers
outstanding opportunities to gain new insights into one of the darkest
periods of human history.
For additional information, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 1
800 877 4253 x8677.
Marta Kwiatek
Thomson-Gale ~ Library Account Manager
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Toll Free: 800 877 4253 x8677
Direct: 248 699 8677
Fax: 248 699 8600
Web: www.gale.com
"An Advocate for Your Library"
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR SPRING SALE AT: www.gale.com/springsale
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL
===========================================================
Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu
Ha-Safran Archives:
http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html
AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
