Dreiundsechzig 1933-2005

Irene Runge wrote 14 books so far. This one was written for the occasion of her 63rd birthday - instead of a speech, it was printed and delivered to 63 of her friends. The book is a memoir, and jumps back and forth in time. It consists mostly of personal memories and anecdotes, but there is also an essay-style to it, with very reflective passages and analyses. It is divided into many chapters, which also resemble diary entries. Irene Runge is a member of the "second generation". She was born in the New York exile, but her parents moved back to Germany after the war, during a climate in the USA, which made it very difficult for sympathisers with the communist party. Her memories give rich insight into the life as an emigrant in New York, but also as re-emigrant in Germany. She writes about the their disappointments with the evolving German Democratic Republic (GDR), Eastern Germany, experiences, which repeated again in 1989/1990, when the reunification with West Germany took place. The year 1989 had practical consequences for her private life--she lost her job at the university, because her past seemed not compatible. She discusses the PDS, the party which evolved from the communist party of Eastern Germany, Berlin after the "Wende" (reunification), and life in Berlin after the reunification. At one point she asks whether the current Turkish-Muslim community in Berlin could be comparable to the living conditions of the Jewish community in the 1930. This is a rare memoir documenting many recent aspects of German-speaking Jewry.

Memoirs 1920-1960

Education as artist in "Odenwaldschule" and Oberammergau; return to Berlin and studies in the "Kunstgewerbeschule"; emigration to Paris in 1933; artist circle including Max Ernst; flight to Switzerland in 1942; busts of Pablo Casals and Emil Ludwig; emigration to New York; bust of Bruno Walter.

How to find your ancestors in Germany 1984

Paper presented at the Fourth National Seminar on Jewish genealogy, Evanston, IL, July 22-25, 1984.

Jerusalem City Museum Commemorative Medal

Obverse: Stylized design of the Tower of David. Reverse: The emblem of Jerusalem in the center, the word 'Jerusalem' in different languages.

Cover page of a binder for maps of Crimea and Ukraine

Digital image

Board of Delegates of American Israelites records 1859-1881, 1887, 1932

Contains printed copies of the 1860 constitution and by-laws, copies of proceedings and annual reports, 1859-1877, of the Board of Delegates; report on Jews in Roumania, an 1874 annual report of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society, manuscript minute books and minutes of meetings, 1859-1876, resolutions, executive, financial, ritual slaughtering and other special committee reports, newspaper clippings and correspondence with synagogues and organizations in the U.S. who constitute the membership of the Board of Delegates, with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations with whom they later merged, the Union's Board of Delegates of Civil and Religious Rights, and with individuals and organizations in foreign countries including the Alliance Israelite Universelle, the Anglo-Jewish Association, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Committee for the Roumanian Jews (Berlin), the Koenigsberg Committee, and the London Roumanian Committee.

Seligman Solomon Society records 1912-1922

Contains minutes of Meetings (May 1918; May 1921), bulletins, official reports, 25th Anniversary Journal, photographs, and correspondence (May 1917-May 1922), particularly concerning the organization's social and philanthropic activities. Much of the correspondence is with Jewish personnel serving in the armed forces during and after World War I (1918-1919).

Schoolman family papers, undated, 1889-1994

The Schoolman Papers reflect Dr. Albert P. and Mrs. Bertha Schoolmans' staunch dedication to Jewish education, Jewish causes, and Israel. Bertha Schoolman, a lifelong member of Hadassah, assisted thousands of Israeli youth as chairman of the Youth Aliyah Committee. Her diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and correspondence record her numerous visits to Israel on which she helped set up schools, met with Israeli dignitaries, and participated in Zionist Conferences and events. The collection includes a 1936 letter from Hadassah founder, Henrietta Szold, praising Mrs. Schoolman's work as well as a letter from the father of Anne Frank, thanking Mrs. Schoolman for naming a Youth Aliyah center the "Anne Frank Haven" after his later daughter.

Temple Emanuel (Andover, Mass.) records, 1939-2001; and Part II (addendum), undated 1952-2004

Temple Emanuel was founded in 1920 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It began by serving a small immigrant Jewish community that has since grown to an affluent and lively congregation of about 600 families. This growth occurred largely under the tenure of Rabbi Harry A. Roth, who lead the congregation from 1962 until 1990 and oversaw the temple’s move to Andover, Massachusetts. This collection includes correspondence, photographs, and sermons.

Michaelson family papers, undated, 1892-1920, 1943-1944, 1965, 1992, 1994, 1999-2000.

The Michaelson family papers include early family correspondence, documents, and ephemera; genealogical research conducted by Ms. Appleby, Anna’s granddaughter; copies of New York City marriage certificates kept by Louis B. Michaelson, Rabbi, between 1906-1907; and Anna Michaelson’s copies of original birth records that she kept as midwife in the Lower East Side in New York City between 1892-1916.

Congregation Shearith Israel (New York, N.Y.) records, undated, 1755-1996.

Contains published and manuscript material relating to the activities and administration of the congregation and its subsidiary organizations including reports and weekly bulletins, early financial records and lists of those honored at religious services, copies of resolutions and forms of service and prayers for various occasions in manuscript form. Contains also material relating to the cemetery photographs, the Hebra Hased Va-Amet (the congregational burial society) and to later clergy in the congregation, Henry Pereira Mendes, David de Sola Pool and Louis Coleman Gerstein including published copies of their sermons.

Solis-Cohen family papers, 1808-1990.

Correspondence, diaries, acount books, pamphlets, and other personal and professional materials pertaining to Jacob da Silva Solis and his descendents.

Milton Weill papers, 1918-1950.

Contains correspondence, memoranda, speeches, etc. to various departments on the National Jewish Welfare Board, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S. relating to Jewish personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II and concerned with public relations, anti-Semitism and discrimination, the chaplaincy, etc.; includes also published articles and radio addresses for the same period and extensive correspondence with Rabbi Milton Steinberg from 1946 to 1950, as well as material by and about Rabbi Steinberg. The collection also contains personal family correspondence while Weill was serving overseas during World War I, memorabilia and a scrapbook relating to these military experiences, and undated typescript copies of dramatic sketches.

Noah Benevolent Society records, undated, 1852-1979.

Collection consists of several versions of the constitution; minute books of the membership meetings (1852-1856, 1868-1907, 1914-1971; until 1907 in German, afterwards in English); minute books of meetings of the trustees (1852-1858, 1876-1974, until 1912 in German); an index to and summary of the trustees minutes (1927-1944); several anniversary journals starting with the 50th, which was also "the first extant history of the Noah Benevolent Society"; membership books (1861-1892, 1930-1965, until 1892 in German; the books after 1930 contain detailed information concerning each member's age, occupation, family, military service, etc.); financial records (1862-1870, 1964-1967, 1972); quarterly accountant's reports (bound with the membership minutes); monthly financial and statistical reports of the Mordechai Federal Credit Union (March 1959-June 1960) established by the Society; lists and addresses of members; newsletters (1927-1979) and other material and photographs reflecting the Society's activities.

Franks family papers, 1711-1821, [1965-1968].

Contains business correspondence, accounts and documents relating to Jacob Franks of New York, his two sons, Moses and David, a nephew, Isaac, and a John Franks of Halifax, possibly a member of the family.