Records of the HICEM Office in Prague,
1927 -
1939
RG 245.10
Processed by Gunnar Berg and other members of YIVO staff
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 246-6080
Fax: (212) 292-1892
Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
URL: http://www.yivoinstitute.org
© November
2001YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. All rights reserved.
Center for Jewish History, Publisher.
Machine-readable finding aid created by Gunnar M. Berg as a
Wordperfect document. November 1997. Electronic finding aid
converted to EAD 1.0 by Dianne Ritchey Oummia. November 2001. Description is in English.
|
| Title: | Records of the HICEM Office
in Prague |
|---|
| Abstract: | Collection consists of
records of the HICEM Office in Prague, documenting efforts to assist Jewish
refugees from Czechoslovakia. Records include minutes of National Committee
Meetings, correspondence from the HICEM office, including with various aid
societies, and extensive individual refugee case files. |
|---|
| Quantity: | 5 feet, 3 inches (12 5
in. legal boxes, 1 3 in. oversize box, 9 microfilm reels) |
|---|
| Accession number: | RG 245.10 |
|---|
| Repository: | YIVO Institute for Jewish Research |
|---|
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The HICEM Office in Prague was established in 1936 to facilitate relief for
the growing mass of German-Jewish refugees in Czechoslovakia. The HICEM office
was the successor to the National Committee for Refugees Coming From Germany
which coordinated relief work from 1934 to 1936. The National Committee sought
to coordinate the activities of the various member groups and present a single
voice when dealing with Czech government officials and with the European High
Commissioner for Refugees.
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The bulk of the collection consists of files of Marie Schmolka, a HICEM
representative, who was also involved with the National Committee and with a
number of German-Jewish immigrant groups. Marie Schmolka was killed by Gestapo
agents in the fall of 1939 several weeks after she returned from a HICEM
sponsored immigration conference in Paris.
The records contain minutes from the National Committee for Refugees Coming
From Germany, correspondence of the HICEM Prague office concerning
organizational activities and regarding assistance of refugees, and refugee
case files.
Many topics are covered in this collection, especially
assistance provided to refugees and conferences concerning them, victims of
applications of the Nuremberg Laws in Czechoslovakia and Austria, dealings with
authorities concerning identity papers, and coordination of activities among
aid organizations.
The materials are written in various languages,
principally Czech, German, English and French.
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The records are divided into three series as follows:
- Series I: Minutes of National Committee Meetings,
1934-1937
- Series II: Correspondence of the
HICEM-Prague office, 1927-1939
- Series III: Refugee
Case Files, 1936-1939
Series I and part of Series II is arranged by subject and in chronological
order within. Series III is arranged alphabetically by last name.
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Access Restrictions
The records are open to the public with permission of YIVO staff.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more
information, contact
email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
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This collection is a
Subgroup of RG 245.
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Collection was received in 1955 from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, then
known as the United HIAS Service.
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Microfilm Reels MKM
15.135-15.143
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Published citations should take the following form:
Identification
of item, date (if known); Records of the HICEM Office in Prague; RG 245.10; box
number; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
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Originally arranged in 1979 with
the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Inventory prepared in 1997 with the assistance of a grant from the Hebrew
Immigrant Aid Society, New York
Originally cataloged as Record Group 245.4, Series
XXIX.
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The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the
collection.
Series I: Minutes of National Committee Meetings,
1934-1937 |
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically in forward order. |
Scope and Content:Abbreviated minutes of the weekly meetings of the National Committee for
Refugees Coming From Germany.. This group consisted of representatives from the
Jewish Aid Committee, the Social-Democratic Refugee Organization, the German
Immigrant Aid Committee, the Union of Private Aid Groups and the Democratic
Refugee Organization. There are also minutes from meetings of a Childrens Aid
subcommittee. Topics covered in the minutes included: reports from several European
conferences on refugees; securing identity papers for stateless refugees;
dealings with police authorities regarding victims of the application of the
Nuremberg Laws in Germany and similar laws in Czechoslovakia and Austria. Principal correspondents are Maria Schmolka (Director of the Prague office)
and Hanna Steiner. |
| MKM 15.135 | | | |
| 1 | Abbreviated minutes of weekly meetings of the National Committee of
Jewish-Aid Organizations (Prague). | July 4, 1934 - July 14, 1937 |
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Series II: Correspondence of the HICEM-Prague office,
1927-1939 |
Arrangement:Folders 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 have contents arranged
chronologically in forward order. |
Scope and Content:Administrative reports and correspondence regarding: HICEM office
operations; efforts to secure lodging, food distribution and visa requests for
arriving refugees; activities of other groups in Czechoslovakia (e.g., Women's
International Zionist Organization (WIZO), Trans-Carpathian Jewish Aid
Comittee, Carpatho-Russian Aid Committee, Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden
(Germany), the South German Party and the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom); European conferences with the International Labor Bureau,
Geneva and the High Commissioner for Refugees. Correspondence with: Czech goverment agencies; American consulate in Prague;
HICEM, Paris; High Commission of the League of Nations for Refugees Coming From
Germany; AJDC, Mukacevo; Government of New Zealand; various refugee
organizations. Correspondence of the National Committee. HICEM financial
reports and bookkeeping records. |
| 2 | Correspondence between the HICEM office in Prague and individuals,
other aid organizations, government offices and foreign consulates [many
letters in Czech] | Jan. 17 - Dec. 15, 1938 |
| 3 | Copies of correspondence from HICEM (Prague) | Feb. 26 - Aug. 3, 1938 |
| 4 | Circulating memoranda, from HICEM (Paris) to its affiliates,
explaining immigration requirements for various countries | May 19, 1927 - Jan. 12, 1939 |
| 5 | Materials relating to various international refugee conferences
| Jan. 16, 1935 - Dec. 28, 1937 |
| 6 | Reports and correspondence regarding aid activities of various Czech
groups | Jan. 19, 1938 - Dec. 30, 1939. |
| 7 | Two sets of papers: 1) Minutes of meetings of HICEM, its
subcommittees and the Women's committee of the Carpathian-Russia Aid Committee
and, 2) Correspondence addressed to local town Women's International Zionist
Organizationcommittees regarding clothing drives | June 27, 1935 - April 5, 1937 , Dec. 15, 1937 - Oct. 11,
1938 |
| MKM 15.136 | | | |
| 8 | Copies of League of Nations' documentation and related
correspondence and reports | 1936-1938 |
| 9 | Correspondence (some handwritten) to Hanna Steiner (Prague office)
from Mukcevo (Czechoslovak Republic) offices of the American Joint
Reconstruction Foundation and the Orphans-Assistance Society of
Trans-Carpathian Russia, regarding emigration out of the Czechoslovak
Republic | Dec. 20, 1931 - Oct. 18, 1938 |
| 10 | Correspondence and legal depositions regarding a trial of a Dr.
Karel Feitenhansl | May 27, 1932 - Jan. 22, 1939 |
| 11 | Daily lists of refugees being summoned by the HICEM office in
Prague, to obtain emigration affidavits and consular interviews | Jan. 31, 1939 - Mar. 8, 1939. |
| 12 | [This folder not microfilmed] | |
| 13 | Individual emigration expense sheets for specific refugees as well
as annual summaries for the Prague office | 1936 - 1939 |
| 14 | Correspondence with various organizations and individuals in the
Czechoslovak Republic, regarding a milk distribution program for refugee
children | Nov. 27, 1936 - Dec. 29, 1937 |
| 15 | Correspondence between Prague and various individuals and banks in
the Czechoslovak Republic regarding the establishment of an orphans' shelter in
the city of Mukacevo (Trans-Carpathian Russia) and setting up bank accounts in
various cities | May 15, 1936 - Mar. 17, 1937 |
| 16 | Personal correspondence from prospective emigrants and individual
expense sheets from refugees being helped by HICEM | Mar. 3, 1937 - May 6, 1938 |
| 17 | Accounting ledger sheets and correspondence regarding expenses for
individual refugees (some grouping by town of origin) | June 30, 1937 - Mar. 31, 1938 |
| 18 | Receipts and accounting correspondence for emigration travel
expenses | May 25, 1936 - Dec. 31, 1937 |
| 19 | Idem | Jan. 3 - Mar. 30, 1938 |
| 20 | Pages from a personal address book; pages from a personal diary with
handwritten daily entries of activities and people contacted;stenographic notes
from an unknown meeting [authors unknown]. | 1938 |
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Series III: Refugee Case Files,
1936-1939 |
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically by refugee last name. |
Scope and Content:This series consists
of the central files of dossiers of refugees assisted by the HICEM Prague
Committee. They are divided into two groups [distinction unknown]: a main body
and an Addendum. This listing of individuals was compiled in 1979. Each
file can consist of personal correspondence between the refugee and the
Committee, official correspondence with government officials, affidavits from
sponsors in the destination country and application forms. |
| 21 | Ab-Ap | |
| MKM 15.137 | | | |
| 22 | Ar-Au | |
| 23 | Bac-Bal | |
| 24 | Ban-Bay | |
| 25 | Be-Bi | |
| 26 | Bl-Bo | |
| 27 | Bra-Bru | |
| 28 | Bu-By | |
| 29 | Ca-Cz | |
| 30 | Da-Dy | |
| MKM 15.138 | | | |
| 31 | Eb-Ei | |
| 32 | Ek-Er | |
| 33 | Fa-Fe | |
| 34 | Fi-Fr | |
| 35 | Fri-Fro | |
| 36 | Fu-Fy | |
| 37 | Ga-Ge | |
| 38 | Gi-Gl | |
| 39 | Gl-Gr | |
| 40 | Gud-Guy | |
| 41 | Haa-Hah | |
| 42 | Haj-Hav | |
| MKM 15.139 | | | |
| 43 | Hec-Hel | |
| 44 | Ha-He | |
| 45 | Hi-Hl | |
| 46 | Hoc-Hor | |
| 47 | Hub-Hut | |
| 48 | Il-Iz | |
| 49 | Ja-Ju | |
| 50 | Kaf-Kas | |
| 51 | Kat-Kau | |
| 52 | Ke-Kl | |
| 53 | Kl-Ko | |
| 54 | Kohn, A-Kohn, H | |
| MKM 15.140 | | | |
| 55 | Kohn, I-Kohn, W | |
| 56 | Koh-Koz | |
| 57 | Krak-Krau | |
| 58 | Kre-Krz | |
| 59 | Kub-Kut | |
| 60 | Lab-Lau | |
| 61 | Leb-Lem | |
| 62 | Len-Lew | |
| 63 | Lib-Lit | |
| 64 | Lob-Lop | |
| 65 | Lo-Lu | |
| 66 | Mag-Man | |
| 67 | Mar-May | |
| 68 | Med-Mey | |
| 69 | Mi-Mo | |
| MKM 15.141 | | | |
| 70 | Mu-My | |
| 71 | Na-Ne | |
| 72 | Neu-Neul | |
| 73 | Ne-Nu | |
| 74 | Ob-Ot | |
| 75 | Pa-Ph | |
| 76 | Pi-Po | |
| 77 | Po-Pu | |
| 78 | Qua-Qui | |
| 79 | Rab-Raw | |
| 80 | Rea-Rei | |
| 81 | Rei-Reu | |
| 82 | Ri-Ro | |
| 83 | Ro-Ry | |
| 84 | Sa-Sc | |
| 85 | Sc-Se | |
| 86 | Si-Sk | |
| 87 | Sl-So | |
| 88 | Sp-Sr | |
| 89 | St-Sz | |
| 90 | Ta-Vo | |
| 91 | Wa-We | |
| 92 | We-Wr | |
| 93 | Ya-Zw | |
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ADDENDUM TO SERIES III |
| 94 | Ad-Fu | |
| 95 | Ga-Hu | |
| 96 | Ka-Kw | |
| 97 | La-Os | |
| 98 | Pa-Ry | |
| 99 | Sa-Sc | |
| 100 | Se-Sz | |
| 101 | Ta-Zy | |
| 102 | Pages from five ledger books | 1936-1939 |
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