Finding aid for the American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project Records


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project
Title: American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project Records
Dates: 1973-1975
Extent: 1.20 linear feet (2 containers)
Abstract: The American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project was designed to interview Holocaust survivors and their families with emphasis on their adjustment here. Twenty-three Northeast Ohio survivors were interviewed as part of the national project. These interviews were conducted by Judah Rubinstein and Bea Stadtler. Copies of all transcripts are stored at the William E. Wiener Oral History Library of the American Jewish Committee in New York. Excerpts of the interviews were published in the book, Voices from the Holocaust, edited by Sylvia Rothchild and published in 1981. The collection consists of transcripts of interviews with twenty-three Holocaust survivors residing in Northeast Ohio. The collection also includes adminstrative materials such as guidelines for interviewers, background information about potential interviewees, and correspondence with interviewees.
MS Number MS 4582
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

History of the American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project

The American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project was funded by a 1973 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to the American Jewish Committee (f. 1906) which seeks to protect the civil and religious rights of Jews in America and abroad and to advance improved human relations of all people. The full name of this project was "Study in American Pluralism Through Oral Histories of Holocaust Survivors."

The project's organizers stated their goals as follows: "we are seeking the European and American histories of these survivors, with particular emphasis on their American experience and the effects of the Holocaust upon their adjustment here." Approximately 250 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and members of their families, from all over the United States, were interviewed in this two-year project. Northeast Ohio survivors were interviewed by Judah Rubinstein, director of research of The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, and Bea Stadtler, a Cleveland area Holocaust educator and author. Copies of all transcripts are stored at the William E. Wiener Oral History Library of the American Jewish Committee in New York City. Excerpts from interview transcripts were published in Voices from the Holocaust, which was edited by Sylvia Rothchild and includes a foreword by Elie Wiesel (New York and Scarborough, Ontario: New American Library, 1981).


Scope and Content

The American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project Records (1973-1975), consists principally of transcripts of interviews with twenty-three Holocaust survivors residing in Northeastern Ohio. The collection also includes administrative materials such as guidelines for interviewers, background information about potential interviewees, and correspondence with interviewees.

This collection is of value to researchers interested in American immigration history and American Jewish history and, more specifically, in the history of American Jewish Holocaust survivors residing in Cleveland and northeast Ohio.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series.
Series I: Administrative Records consists of administrative materials relating to the project.
Series I is arranged by subject matter and then chronologically or alphabetically.
Series II: Interviews with Survivors, consists of transcripts of project interviews, some of which include an index to key topics.
Series II is arranged alphabetically by surname.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project.
Holocaust survivors -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Interviews.
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
Interviews -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Biography.
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Interviews.
Oral history.
United States -- Emigration and immigration.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4582 American Jewish Committee Holocaust Project Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Jewish Community Federation, 1985.

Processing Information

Processed by Nancy F. Schwartz in 1992.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Administrative Records 1972-1975 undated

Box Folder
1 1 Progress reports, William E. Wiener Oral History Library of the American Jewish Committee 1972-1975
1 2 Holocaust project descriptions and guidelines for interviewers, American Jewish Committee 1973-1974 undated
1 3 Northeast Ohio component of American Jewish Committee Holocaust project, background (European and American) data about potential interviewees compiled by Judah Rubinstein 1974
1 4 Northeast Ohio component of American Jewish Committee Holocaust project, correspondence with interviewees and potential interviewees 1974-1975
1 5 Northeast Ohio component of American Jewish Committee Holocaust project, correspondence with Judah Rubinstein 1974-1975

Series II: Interviews with Survivors 1974-1975

Box Folder
1 6 Transcript of interview, Bergrin, Leon 1974
1 7 Transcript of interview, Berry, Sam, Mr. and Mrs. 1974-1975
1 8 Transcript of interview, Burke, David 1974
1 8 Transcript of interview, Burke, Kim 1974
1 8 Transcript of interview, Burke, Sam 1974
1 9 Transcript of interview, Cassirer, Claude 1974
1 10 Transcript of interview, Einstein, Claude 1974
1 11 Transcript of interview, Einstein, Erena 1974
1 12 Transcript of interview, Einstein, Henny 1974
1 13 Transcript of interview, Friedman, Carl 1974
1 14 Transcript of interview, Grubman, Simon and Sally 1974
1 15 Transcript of interview, Herskovic, Herman 1975
1 16 Transcript of interview, Kohn, Ora 1975
1 17 Transcript of interview, Leiser, Dina 1974
1 18 Transcript of interview, Schepps, Chaim 1974
1 19 Transcript of interview, Schepps, Leah 1974
1 19 Transcript of interview, Schepps, Zahava 1974
1 20 Transcript of interview, Wajsman, Mindelle 1975
1 21 Transcript of interview, Wajsman, Sender 1975
Box Folder
2 22 Transcript of interview, Weissbluth, Eugene 1974
2 23 Transcript of interview, Weissbluth, Gertrude 1974