Herbert Strauss Collection

The Herbert Strauss Collection documents the life and professional activities of Herbert Strauss, writer, historian, and teacher. The collection includes correspondence, court procedures, documents, lists, manuscripts and lectures, notes, photographs, printed materials, and a small amount of teaching materials.

Materials constituting the collection reflect various aspects of Herbert Strauss personal and professional life, teaching, and research and writings in the fields of German-Jewish history and relations, Anti-Semitism, and assimilation.

The collection includes both, personal and professional materials related to Herbert Strauss, with personal being by far the smallest.

In addition to personal materials of Herbert Strauss, there is a small amount of materials dealing with other members of the Strauss family, such as his wife, Lotte Strauss, his father, Benno Strauss, and others.

The bulk of the personal materials deal with Herbert Strauss’ experience in Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s and his astonishing escape to Switzerland and his experience as a refugee. These materials consist of documents, reports (written by Strauss) to Swiss police and Intelligence Service, and a very extensive interview with Herbert and Lotte Strauss, on occasion of the release of the movie, We Were German Jews.

A much larger body of materials document Herbert Strauss’ professional activities as a historian, writer, and academician. These materials consist of correspondence, court procedures, documents, lists, manuscripts and lectures, printed materials, some teaching materials, and materials related to a number of academic institutions that Dr.Strauss was closely affiliated with, namely Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, City College, and Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung.

The bulk of materials dealing with Strauss professional activities consists of writings by Herbert Strauss as well as others. Topics covered by these writings include Anti-Semitism, immigration, German Jewry, Jewish intellectuals, assimilation and acculturation, and Holocaust. Additionally, there are numerous drafts and notes for Herbert Strauss’ autobiography, which constitute about half of all the writings of Herbert Strauss.

Furthermore, there are lectures of Herbert Strauss, written during his affiliation with City College and Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung, which he helped to establish in 1980.

Additionally, there is professional correspondence with academic institutions, Jewish organization such as American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, individuals, and publishers and magazines. In addition to Herbert Strauss’ correspondence there is also correspondence by Ernst Grumach, generated during his teaching at Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums.

Other correspondence includes letters regarding various academic projects at City College and Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung that Dr. Strauss was involved with.

There are also materials dealing with the court case against the auction house Sotheby’s, which took place in 1984, after it became known that the prestigious company was auctioning books and manuscripts that formerly belonged to the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums.

There is also a small amount of materials dealing with Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung which consists of materials pertaining to research projects, programs, and membership information