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Guide to the Papers of George Harry Asher (1907-1998)
1907-1996

AR 6555/MF 766

Processed by Michael Aldinger

Leo Baeck Institute

Center for Jewish History

15 West 16th Street

New York, N.Y. 10011

Phone: (212) 744-6400

Fax: (212) 988-1305

Email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

URL: http://www.lbi.org

© 2007 Leo Baeck Institute. All rights reserved.
Center for Jewish History, Publisher.
Electronic finding aid was encoded in EAD 2002 by Dianne Ritchey Oummia in September 2007. Description is in English.

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Asher, George Harry
Title: George Harry Asher Collection
Dates: 1907-1996
Abstract: The collection holds the professional and private documents of George Harry Asher. The emphasis is on correspondence, writings and official papers. Advertising proofs reflect Asher's work and career. Prominent among the material is an autobiographical sketch and correspondence between Asher and his mother, shortly before her deportation in 1941. The collection also holds material, such as correspondence, manuscripts and articles about Oskar Maria Graf, a close friend to Asher.
Languages: The collection is in English, German, Czech, and French.
Quantity: 1 linear foot + 2 oversized folders
Identification: AR 6555/MF 766
Repository: Leo Baeck Institute
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Biographical Note

George Harry Asher (Georg Harry Ascher) was born on November 18, 1907 in Vienna. After studying advertisement and graphic design in Prague, he stayed in Czechoslovakia working in advertising and as a commercial traveler. When the Germans marched into Prague, he found asylum in the French Embassy and, after having been arrested and released by the Gestapo, he fled to France, where he was interred in several French camps. The writer Oskar Maria Graf put Ascher's name on a list of a visa program for intellectuals, and he obtained a visa to the U.S. Coming from Lisbon, he arrived in New York, where - from 1941 to 1947 - he held various blue-collar jobs. In 1942 he married Esther Lea Lewin (she was born 1907 in Nevel, Russia, escaped Germany via London, settled in New York in 1940 and died in 1992). In 1947, Asher started his career as an art director in the advertising industry. He was a regular member of Oskar Maria Graf's Stammtisch in New York, which he hosted after Graf's death in 1967. From 1969-1974 Asher studied at Brooklyn College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in General Studies. George H. Asher died in 1998.

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Scope and Content Note

The George Harry Asher collection consists of six series, holding documents, correspondence and writings related to George Harry Asher. The last two series are devoted to specific persons from Asher's life: his wife Esther Lea Asher and his close friend, the famous German writer Oskar Maria Graf.

The collection documents the work and life of Asher in several ways. Advertising proofs, as part of his professional career in Czechoslovakia and the U.S. can be found in Series I. Documents regarding his career are also part of Series IV; their focus is on Asher's first jobs in Czechoslovakia, i.e. employment contracts, as well as some documents concerning his career in the U.S.

Private information can be found in his autobiographical draft in Series II, along with poems, essays and the record of a dream. Most of the private information found there and in the documents of Series IV shed a light on Asher's time in Czechoslovakia, his escape from France and first years in the U.S. Notable expectations are several of his college papers, which he kept from his time at Brooklyn College. There are many essays and poems in the collection, but they are mostly undated. Series I also contains watercolor drawings by Asher, along with photographs.

Prominent among the documents in the collection is the correspondence with his mother in 1941, before she was deported and killed. It can be found in Series III. The other correspondence gives a good impression of Asher's later life, including both personal information and his political views.

Due to the original order, established by George Asher himself, the collection holds two series solely concerned with specific persons. These series deal with personal matters of the specific person, but they also have a strong emphasis on the person's relation to Asher.

Series V is dedicated to Esther Lea Asher. Prominent in this section is official correspondence from the period, when she was trying to leave Germany between 1939 and 1940. There is little material documenting her later life.

Original writings by Asher’s close friend Oskar Maria Graf as well as their correspondence can be found in Series VI. After Graf's death, Asher was contacted by various researches seeking information about the writer; most of this correspondence is also in Series VI. Asher's Correspondence with Gerhard Bauer about Graf, however, has been kept in Series III, in keeping with the original order of the material.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series as follows:

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

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Access Points

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Related Material

See also Austrian Heritage Collection interview (AHC 109).

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Separated Material

An interview with George Asher on videotape has been removed to the audio-visual collection. It is available for viewing. The interview appears to have been made by the staff of "Self-Help" in New York for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. The interview focuses on George Asher's first years in the United States, and the fate of family members who stayed in Europe.

Photographs removed to the LBI Photograph Collection.

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Microfilm

Collection is available on five reels of microfilm:

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Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); George Harry Asher Collection; AR 6555/MF 766; box number; folder number; Leo Baeck Institute.

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Container List

 

Series I: Visual, 1937-1991.
This series is in English, German and Czech.
5 folders.
Arrangement:

Topical and chronological.
Scope and Content:

This series consists of the visual material of the collection. Among them are watercolor drawings by George H. Asher, which date back to 1952, and a few sketches. A selection of photographs can also be found in this series, although most of the photographs have been removed to the photograph collection. The last three folders of the series consist of advertising proofs from his professional career in Czechoslovakia and the USA.

Box Folder Title Date
OS5 1 Drawings undated, 1952
Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Photographs undated, 1940
1 2 Advertising Prague 1937
Box Folder Title Date
OS5 2 Advertising Proofs USA 1947-1991
Box Folder Title Date
1 3 Advertising USA undated
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Series II: Writings by George H. Asher, 1938-1986.
This series is in English and German.
Nine folders.
Arrangement:

Topical and chronological.
Scope and Content:

Writings by George H. Asher of all sorts can be found in this series. Prominent among them is his draft for an autobiography. There are also poems, essays, college papers, a journal recording his dreams, and a diary from 1939-1941.
Box Folder Title Date
1 4 Autobiographical 1986
1 5 Diary [1938-1941]
1 6 Essays undated
1 7 Poems May 1938-April 1941; August 1976-April 1982
1 8 Copy of Notes from Prisoner in French Camp 1985 June
1 9 Recorded Dreams undated, 1978 September 11
1 10 College Papers: Communications and Humanities 1969-1974
1 11 College Papers: Political Science 1969-1974
1 12 College Papers: English 1969-1974
1 13 College Papers: Science 1969-1974
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Series III: Correspondence, 1914-1987.
This series is in English and German.
Seven folders.
Arrangement:

Topical and Chronological.
Scope and Content:

This series consists of George H. Asher's correspondence. Prominent among it are the last letters he wrote to and received from his mother, Sofie Ascher, before she was deported and killed. Other correspondence with friends is in the form of New Year's letters. Replies to his letters are also kept in this series. A notable correspondence was with Gerhard Bauer, a professor in Berlin, who wrote a book about Oskar Maria Graf. The correspondence between the two is mainly about this project.

Box Folder Title Date
1 14 Ascher, Sofie 1941 March 5-1941 September 9
1 15 Kogos, Leo 1945 September 9
1 16 General 1941-1983
1 17 Restitution 1961-1983
1 18 Bauer, Gerhard 1985 July 7-1987 September 27
1 19 New Year Circular Letter 1987-1996
1 20 Post- and Congratulation Cards 1914-1986
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Series IV: Documents, 1907-1991.
This series is in English, German and Czech.
Ten folders.
Arrangement:

Topical and Chronological.
Scope and Content:

This series holds all kinds of documents, which George H. Asher collected in his life: i.e. his residence certificate from Vienna, his U.S. passports, etc. Prominent among them are the documents of his escape from France, where he was helped by Varian Fry. The documents provide information about his first jobs in Czechoslovakia and in the USA.
Box Folder Title Date
1 21 Original Inventory List undated
1 22 Death Certificate of Sophie Ascher 1947
1 23 Vienna, Brno, Prague 1907-1939
1 24 Escape from France 1941
1 25 USA 1941-1957, 1987
1 26 Brooklyn College 1969-1974
1 27 Passports 1955-1986
1 28 Radio Script from a Show with G. H. Asher 1994
1 29 Clippings and Essay with Dedication to G. H. Asher undated, 1968-1975, 1990
1 30 Death Memoranda 1965-1991
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Series V: Esther Lea Asher, 1938-1992.
This series is in English and German.
Six Folders
Arrangement:

Topical and Chronological.
Scope and Content:

The documents in this series deal with Esther Lea Asher. Only official documents were kept by George H. Asher, such as her naturalization certificate. Prominent in this series are the documents of her escape from Germany; they cover official correspondence with the U.S. embassy, German police and the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland.
Box Folder Title Date
1 31 Departure from Germany 1938-1941
1 32 Documents 1940-1946, 1955-1983, 1992
1 33 Postcards from Esther Lea Asher to George H. Asher 1963
1 34 Retirement Home and Funeral Invoice 1992
1 35 Query to use Esther Lea Asher's Body for research 1992
1 36 Esther Lea Asher's Obituary 1992
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Series VI: Oskar Maria Graf, 1956-1996.
This series is in English and German.
Six folders.
Arrangement:

Topical and Chronological.
Scope and Content:

This series consists of documents about Oskar Maria Graf, the famous German writer and close friend of George H. Asher. Some original writings by Oskar M. Graf can be found, such as a short story of his first encounter with Bertolt Brecht and an open letter to Pope Paul VI. There is also correspondence between George H. Asher and Oskar M. Graf. An interesting oddity is a commercial with Oskar M. Graf. In addition the series includes clippings dealing with him and the Stammtisch, which Graf founded to socialize with other German speaking immigrants.

Box Folder Title Date
1 37 Writings (including letters) by Oskar Maria Graf Undated; 1956-1966
1 38 Letters from Oskar Maria Graf to George H. Asher undated, 1964
1 39 Letters to the Editor by George H. Asher about Oskar Maria Graf undated, 1962, 1969
1 40 Correspondence between George H. Asher and Scholars about Oskar Maria Graf 1969-1975
1 41 Correspondence between George H. Asher and the Oskar Maria Graf Society 1993
1 42 Funeral Eulogy of Oskar Maria Graf by George H. Asher [1967]
1 43 Essay about Oskar Maria Graf by other Authors 1959
1 44 Advertising with Oskar Maria Graf undated
1 45 Clippings about Oskar Maria Graf and the Stammtisch 1959-1996
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