Herbert and Kaethe Hirsch family collection 1912-1984

This collection contains the papers of Robin Hirsch and his parents, Herbert and Kaethe. The majority of the collection consists of correspondence, dating from Herbert's time as an artilleryman for the German army in World War I up until his death in 1982. Herbert mostly corresponded with his immediate family and friends. In 1967, Robin relocated to the United States, so later correspondence is mostly between Robin and his parents. Other materials in the collection focus on restitution for Herbert and Kaethe, as well as photographs from Herbert's travels in the 1930s in Europe and Palestine.Herbert Hirsch collected articles and information on anti-Semitism (mainly 1933-1935 German newspapers and 1945 English reporting) and Jewish resistance. He was member of the Juedischer Ruder-Club IVRIA: part of the collection contains material about the club and its history. The collection also contains efforts to document the former Hirsch-family-history and some diary-like writings and texts, most of them written by Herbert Hirsch.Also included are documents about the work of Robin Hirsch as a theater director (posters and leaflets) and as a lecturer.Herbert M. Hirsch was born on January 11, 1898 in Berlin to Bertha née Baer and Max Hirsch. He had one younger brother, Georg. In 1913, Herbert took a commercial apprenticeship at the Orenstein & Koppel (O&K) Company. In 1914, he joined the Jewish rowing club, “Ivria.” During World War I he served in the German army as a field artilleryman. After the war, he returned to O&K until 1921, when his father had a heart attack and forced him to take over the family firm, Max Hirsch & Co., a metal works factory that sold bakelite. In 1938, Herbert’s mother and brother fled to the Netherlands; Bertha died in Bergen-Belsen in 1944, but Georg survived the war. On September 15, 1938, Herbert Hirsch found refuge in England, but was interned on the Isle of Man from June 27, 1940 until 1941. Herbert married Kaethe Lewald in 1939. In London, Hirsch was chairman of the Hampstead Zion House and the Theodor Herzl Society and involved in the Association of Jewish Refugees. Herbert Hirsch died on October 28, 1982.Kaethe Hirsch was born on May 1, 1902 in Berlin to Ernst Lewald and Luise née Felsenthal. Luise was deported in March 1943 and died in the Holocaust. Kaethe had a sister, Herta, who married Werner Eichwald and fled to Argentina. From 1924 to 1928 Kaethe was married to Joachim Lothar Sachs. After moving to England in 1939, she married Herbert and had two children, Robin, born in 1942 and Barbara, born in 1944. Kaethe Hirsch died in June 1990.Robin Hirsch attended Oriel College at Oxford University from 1961-1964. He taught at Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum in 1966 and briefly worked at the Sheffield Playhouse. In 1967, he received Fulbright and English Speaking Union Fellowship scholarships and began a doctorate at Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in theater and literature in 1969 and moved to New York City. He married Nancy Volkman in 1972. In July 1977, he opened the Cornelia Street Café with Charles McKenna and Raphaela Pivetta. In addition to running the Café, he also founded the New Works Project, a group devoted to the development of new theater productions. He married his second wife Leona Jaglom in 1984