Abstract: |
Joseph B. Horwitz (1899-2000) was a Jewish entrepreneur from Cleveland, Ohio, who was born in Vilnius in 1899. Horwitz came
to Cleveland with his family at a young age. In 1930 he married Cleveland native Olyn (Ollie) Shaw (1895-1999). The couple
had one daughter, Judy (Relman). In the 1930s, Horwitz devised methods of making usable steel from scrap metals and became
the President of the Kaiser-Nelson Corporation. During and after World War II Joseph and Olyn Horwitz were involved with the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. They assisted in the relocation of refugees in Europe. In 1948 a refugee gave
the couple an eighteenth century silver filigree menorah and inspired them to start collecting Judaica. Joseph B. Horwitz
subsequently became one of the most prominent collectors of Jewish religious art in the United States. Horwitz and his wife
Olyn contributed significantly to the Jewish community of Cleveland. The collection consists of one scrapbook created for
Horwitz's 100th birthday in 1999.
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