Guide to the Papers of Helmut Hirsch (1907-2009)
1879-2002

AR 3150 / MF 1045

Series I: Correspondence, 1937-1982

Arrangement:

Original order.

Scope and Content:

This large series contains the correspondence of Helmut Hirsch, arranged in numerical order by the numbers Hirsch assigned to the folders. Each folder includes a list with accompanying remarks and descriptions of the folder contents, written by Hirsch and located at the front of the folders. Four overfilled folders of correspondence from individuals in Wuppertal ("Wuppertalers") were subdivided during processing of the collection; individuals with extensive correspondence were given their own folder with the remainder left in folders entitled "Various Individuals," with Hirsch's introductory comments located in these folders. The bulk of this series consists of professional correspondence, with discussions on numerous topics with colleagues, publishers, universities and other institutions. Some personal information may also be found among the correspondence with colleagues. A few folders include correspondence with family members, most notably with Emil and Hedwig Hirsch, Helmut Hirsch's parents, and with Helmut Villard B. Hirsch, Helmut Hirsch's eldest son.

Helmut Hirsch's professional life in general will be seen in the correspondence with several publishers as well as in the correspondence with institutions for which he taught or lectured. Several of the folders of correspondence with publishing houses include documentation on contracts and payments in addition to correspondence. Letters with publishers often discuss specific works and their publication status, and occasionally mention editorial changes or comments from publishers. Publishing houses represented in this series include Rohwohlt Verlag, Verlag Friederich Oettinger, Carl Schünemann Verlag, Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Peter Humner Verlag and Aloys Henn Verlag. The folder "Amerika Du Morgenröte" provides information on the publication and distribution of this work by Helmut Hirsch. Numerous folders also hold letters with information on his work as a lecturer and professor. Most notable among these are the two folders of correspondence with Roosevelt College (later Roosevelt University), where Helmut Hirsch taught early in his career. This correspondence contains information on life at the college, contracts, college and departmental politics, grants and funding opportunities, and include letters from other professors, students, and deans; several letters derive from his time teaching in Germany, when he was on a leave of absence from Roosevelt University. The folder of letters relating to the "East and West Fellowship" derive from his time on the Fellowship committee, where he assisted in determining funding for foreign students. Helmut Hirsch also served as a visiting professor at several colleges, and some folders hold correspondence relating to these appointments, such as his time at the University of Chicago, Lake Erie College and the University of Maryland. Hirsch also taught in postwar Germany; evidence of these positions will be seen in the correspondence with the Volkhochschule Wuppertal, Volkhochschule Braunschweig, and Gesamthochschule Paderborn. Hirsch's interest in giving lectures in Europe outside of Germany is evidenced in Series I as well, such as in the correspondence of Yugoslav Universities and with Helmut Müssener of Tyska Institutionen of Stockholm. Hirsch also gave lectures on various topics outside of academia, including his time spent teaching on educational trips for the Council on Student Travel as well as giving lectures for several German radio stations, such as Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Deutschland Rundfunk (where he talked about Germans visiting America), Radio Bremen and Radio Hamburg. Talks he gave for several German Labor Unions discussed labor history and history teaching. Among the letters of Stanley Pergellis Hirsch mentions his interest in researching German exiles in the midwestern United States. With Gerd Wollheim there is discussion of the difference in teaching methods and students between the United States and Germany.

Much of Helmut Hirsch's professional correspondence discusses specific research topics with other colleagues. One such topic is his research on Rosa Luxemburg, which will be encountered in several folders of this series. Correspondence with Paul and Rosi Fröhlich, which also includes personal discussions, frequently mentions Hirsch's work on a book on Rosa Luxemburg. Correspondence with the Hoover Institution mentions a Rosa Luxemburg diary, while Georges Haupt assisted Hirsch in accumulating material on Rosa Luxemburg. In addition, there is one folder of correspondence with Feliks Tych of Warsaw, a leading scholar on Rosa Luxemburg.

Another area of Hirsch's scholarly interest that is well-represented here is the work and lives of Friederich Engels and Karl Marx. Various correspondents mention research on these individuals. Among these is Maximilian Rubel, who was conducting research on Marx. W.O. Henderson's letters also contain a great deal of information on these subjects, as does correspondence with Hal Draper, author of Marx's Theory on Revolution. In addition, there is correspondence with members of the Engels family and with Walter Zadek, a relative of Eduard Bernstein, whose correspondence with Friederich Engels was the subject of one of Hirsch's books. Correspondence with the Carl S. Verlag and the Peter Hummer Verlag discuss the publication of some of Hirsch's works on Marx and Engels.

Helmut Hirsch was also recognized for his knowledge of the politics and history of the Saarland. Saar research is mentioned in the folders of correspondence with Arnold Price, Quincy Wright, the Forschungsstelle für Völkerrecht und ausländisches öffentliches Recht der Universität Hamburg and with the folder of letters with the New Yorker Staatszeitung/ Chicago Abendpost. Hirsch's ideas for articles and further research on the Saar are mentioned in the correspondence with Robert Strausz-Hupe. Correspondence with Hans-Joachim Schoeps briefly mentions arguments on the Saar question.

Personal correspondence is located in several areas of this collection, including among the correspondence with Helmut Hirsch's parents, Hedwig and Emil Hirsch, as well as that of his son, Helmut Villard B. Hirsch, and in the folders of restitution correspondence. The restitution files additionally include some personal papers. Correspondence of Hedwig and Emil Hirsch include letters sent to them by Eva and Helmut Hirsch, as well as some correspondence sent by Eva to her brother Franz while he was in a POW camp. Early letters by Eva Hirsch in Paris to her in-laws in England discuss Helmut's situation while in a labor camp in France, and largely detail her concerns for him and his health, as well as attempts to assist him. Letters from 1942-1945 provide a description of the Hirsch family's existence in Laramie, Wyoming while Helmut Hirsch worked on his dissertation; later letters mention the move to Chicago. Some letters discuss his academic and scholarly work and achievements. These and later letters frequently discuss the development and health of Helmut Villard Hirsch, with most of the later letters pertaining entirely to family matters. In addition, the letters of 1945-1948 hold some correspondence not addressed to Hedwig and Emil Hirsch that mention the incarceration of Franz Buntenbreich in a POW camp in Nebraska and the treatment of Eva Hirsch's family members in Cologne. Two folders in this series hold correspondence between Helmut Hirsch and Helmut Villard Hirsch when the younger Helmut was living on his own in Germany and studying there. These letters primarily include discussion of financial arrangements, some copies of Helmut Villard Hirsch's school essays and frequent discussion of family matters. In addition, Helmut Hirsch often imparts advice to his son on various subjects.

Several folders in this series concern Helmut Hirsch's attempts to seek restitution for his and his family's experiences. Among the papers of the first folder of restitution papers are those documenting his early immigration to France as well as later immigration to the United States. This folder also holds documents detailing Helmut Hirsch's wartime experiences, as well as those of Eva and Hedwig Hirsch. The bulk of the restitution correspondence includes extensive legal and financial correspondence with lawyers and German government agencies focusing on restitution efforts for Hedwig, Helmut and Eva Hirsch.

Series II: Manuscripts and Research Material, 1879-1978

Arrangement:

Divided into two subseries: Manuscripts and Research Material.

Scope and Content:

This series consists of the material Helmut Hirsch used in the creation of his published books and articles. Subseries 1 holds drafts of published works, including extensive notes used in his work Eduard Bernsteins Briefwechsel mit Friedrich Engels. Other manuscripts include several lecture texts, among them those used in radio presentations for Radio Bremen and Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Several manuscripts pertain to Karl Marx or focus on Marxists. The research material of Subseries 2 consists of a small amount of photocopied primary and secondary sources collected by Helmut Hirsch on topics pertaining to Jewish history. Other research material documents his own life, primarily consisting of inventories of his papers at other archival institutions.

Subseries 1: Manuscripts, 1879-1974

Arrangement:

Topical.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 1 is comprised of manuscripts of Helmut Hirsch's essays, lectures and translations; accompanying material such as a small amount of correspondence and notes is included as well.

The majority of this subseries relates to his work on the letters sent by Eduard Bernstein to Friedrich Engels. This material consists of photocopies of Bernstein's handwritten letters and Hirsch's typed transcriptions of the letters, including extensive notations, and culminated in the book Eduard Bernsteins Briefwechsel mit Friedrich Engels.

Among the other manuscripts and some lectures and articles. Three of the lecture texts were intended for the radio: "Der junge Moses Hess" and "Sozialismus: Ideal von Gestern oder Heute? Zum Lebenswerk von Henry Jacoby" played on Westdeutscher Rundfunk, while "Interview mit der Geschichte (XIV): Ferdinand Lasalle" was featured on Radio Bremen. Most of the articles focus on specific political figures, especially those who espoused Marxism or socialism.

A) Engels-Bernstein Letters

B) Other Manuscripts

Subseries 2: Research Material, 1843-1848, 1949-1978

Arrangement:

Topical.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 2 contains research material used by Helmut Hirsch in his professional endeavors. Included are photocopies of original documents as well as copies of clippings, articles and publications.

The first portion of the subseries primarily holds photocopies of documents used by Hirsch in his research. The initial folder is comprised of photocopies of pages of the Appenzeller Zeitung that provide data on anti-Jewish violence during the revolutions of 1848. The folder of material on Elsa Laske-Schüler, a poet/ writer from Wuppertal, also includes a published article by Helmut Hirsch in a Wuppertal publication where he briefly describes his ancestry. The folder "Infamous Decree" holds copies of entries on Napoleon's "Jewish Decree" (Juden-Dekret) of March 17, 1808 as well as a copy of a handwritten original document from 1843. Material on Moses Hess consists of copies of letters by him.

The second area of Subseries 2 comprise material on Helmut Hirsch. The bulk of this material is the inventories of his papers held at the archives of SUNY Albany and the Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv as well as his papers at the University of Kansas and the Tyska Institutionen at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. These papers are similar to the introductory sheets found in most folders of Series I. There is also a biographical article on Helmut Hirsch written on the occasion of his seventieth birthday and one folder of unidentified notes and loose correspondence, some with extensive handwritten notes.

A) Jewish History

B) Helmut Hirsch

Series III: Addenda, 1946-2002

Arrangement:

Alphabetical.

Scope and Content:

Series III contains items Helmut Hirsch added to the collection. Many of the folders in this series accompany the correspondence of Series I, therefore Hirsch's file numbering has been retained, although in a few cases the numeration varies from that used in Series I.

The bulk of this series, like the bulk of the collection, consists of Helmut Hirsch's correspondence. Most of this correspondence pertains to professional matters such as discussion of research, publication of his works, and references to reviews written by Helmut Hirsch. Several folders pertain to his research on Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Correspondence with the Europäische Verlagsanstalt concerns both his translation of a work on Engels and the publication of a work on Marx. Notable is the correspondence with W.O. Henderson and Lawrence Cranberg, which discusses Henderson's search for the last will of Friedrich Engels and the relationship between Engels and Marx. Correspondence with the Institut für Marxistische Studien und Forschungen includes the question of what Karl Marx's life and work meant to Helmut Hirsch personally, along with Helmut Hirsch's answer. Two large folders in this series hold correspondence from Wuppertalers, similar to that of Series I. Among the topics mentioned are the fate of family members left behind in Germany and biographical information on Emil Hirsch. Several letters discuss the establishment of an exhibit at the Wuppertal Stadtmuseum on Jews in Wuppertal during the Third Reich.

In addition to correspondence, Series III also holds a few articles by Hirsch, one folder of biographical articles on him, and further lists of his papers located at SUNY Albany. The biographical articles focus on the publication of his memoir, Onkel Sams Hütte: autobiographisches Garn einen Asylanten in den USA.