Council of Jews from Germany Collection 1936-1994 Bulk dates: 1950-1977

This collection contains the records of the Council of Jews from Germany (Council for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Jews from Germany). It represents the interests of former German Jews in matters of restitution and indemnification, legislation, contacts with successor organizations for heirless Jewish property in West Germany, and social work activities, and was a founding member of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (the Claims Conference). The records primarily range from the 1950s to the 1970s, and include correspondence concerning all aspects of restitution, particularly with the Claims Conference, internal minutes and other administrative and financial documents, and a small amount of cultural material.The following individuals are mentioned in this collection:Arendt, Hannah; Auerbach, Philipp; Bach, Hans; Baeck, Leo; Baron, Salo; Bentwich, Norman; Berent, Ernst; Borchardt, Frederick W; Breslauer, Walter; Callmann, Rudolf; Eschelbacher, Max; Ferencz, Benjamin; Galinski, Heinz; Goldmann, Nahum; Grosz, Mikulasz; Grünewald, Max; Gyseling, Walter; Heilberg, Adolf; Josephtal, Paul; Kareski, Georg; Kiesinger, Georg; Kreutzberger, Max; Landauer, Georg; Lindenbaum, Walter; Mann, Ludwig; Moses, Siegfried; Mosse, Martha; Oncken, Wilhelm; Reichmann, Hans; Schäffer, Hans; Schwarzschild, Fritz; Simon, Ernst; Stein, Nathan; Tramer, Hans; Weil, Bruno; Weltsch, Robert; Wiener, Alfred; Wollheim, Norbert; Woyda, Bruno.The following organizations are mentioned in this collection:American Federation of Jews from Central Europe; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain; Aufbau; Axis Victims League; B’nai B’rith; Central British Fund for Relief and Rehabilitation; Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; Council of Jews from Germany; Irgun ‘ole Merkaz Eropah; Jewish Agency; Jewish Colonization Association (ICA); Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO); Jewish Trust Corporation; Leo Baeck Institute; United Restitution Organization (URO); World Jewish Congress; Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland; Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Deutschen Juden.The Council of Jews from Germany (Council for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Jews from Germany) is the umbrella organization of organizations built up by Jews from Germany and other Central European countries in their countries of resettlement after fleeing Nazi Germany. It represents the interests of former German Jews in matters of restitution and indemnification, legislation, contacts with successor organizations for heirless Jewish property in West Germany, and social work activities. Founded in 1945 in London, the first member organizations were Israel's Irgun Olei Merkaz Europa (IOME), the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, and the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain. It also has affiliates in other countries.In the immediate post-war period, the Council's activities centered on restitution advocacy for Jews who had lived in Germany before World War II. The area of German restitution payments was complex, with claims also put forth by Jews living in Germany after the war (so-called successor communities), by worldwide Jewish organizations such as the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the World Jewish Committee (WJC), and by the state of Israel. In this mix of competing claims, which was made more complicated by reluctance of the western powers to press for restitution as well as by German reluctance, the Council forcefully asserted the "moral claims" of Jews who had lived in Germany before the war. Many of these issues were resolved by the mid-1950s. The Luxembourg Agreements of 1952, between West Germany, Israel, and the Claims Conference, created a framework for future restitution and indemnification claims. The American Court of Restitutions Appeals (CORA), in its 1954 Augsburg decision, determined that the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), rather than successor communities in Germany, was the proper legal successor for German-Jewish heirless communal property. However, disagreements remained, with the Council briefly withdrawing from the JRSO in 1954 after a failure to agree about the allocation of payments.The Council of Jews from Germany was central to many post-war Jewish organizations. It was instrumental in the founding of the United Restitution Organization (URO) in 1945, and was also intimately involved in Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), which was set up in 1946 in the United States zone of western Germany. The Council was also a founding member of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (1951), and helped create the Leo Baeck Institute (1955).The first president of the Council was Leo Baeck, who was succeeded by Siegfried Moses in 1957. After the death of Siegfried Moses in 1974, three joint chairmen were elected. The Council's secretaries were Kurt Alexander (1945-1949), Hans Reichmann (1949-1955), Ernst Berent (1955-1961), Bruno Woyda (1961-1967), and Werner Rosenstock. Other active officers in the early years were Walter Breslauer, Rudolf Callmann, and Rabbi Max Gruenewald.Hermann Muller, "Aus der Gruendungszeit des Council of Jews from Germany". In: Hans Tramer, "In zwei Welten. Siegfried Moses zum fuenfundsiebzigsten Geburtstag", Tel Aviv 1962, pp. 184-192The following manuscripts were removed the LBI Memoir Collection: Hans Reichmann, "Geiselerschiessung in Berlin im Oktober 1942 (2p.) [removed to ME 748]; Martha Mosse, "Erinnerungen" (13 p.) [removed to ME 751]; Ludwig Mann, "Heldentum in Guers" (7 p.) [removed to ME 749]; Oral History Division of the Hebrew University, Project on German Jewish institutions 1933-35 (questionary answered by Walter Breslauer and Bruno Woyda) [removed to ME 71]; Walter Breslauer, "Die Vereinigung fuer das liberale Judentum in Deutschland 1908-1914, 30 p.) [removed to ME 71]; Walter Gyseling, "Propaganda gegen die NSDAP in den Jahren 1929-33, 51 p.) [removed to ME 750]; Adolf Heilberg, "Pro Memoria 1933" (30 p.) [removed to ME 257]Processeddigitize