Josef Kastein and Shulamith Kastein Collection 1935-1988 Bulk: 1935-1946

This collection documents the literary life of the writer Josef Kastein, born Julius Katzenstein. His literary work and his biographical details are the main features of the collection, which includes some of his manuscripts and personal correspondence with Shulamith Kastein. Other materials include the correspondence of Shulamith Kastein with publishers and individuals researching her husband's life and articles and clippings about him.Some fiction and nonfiction manuscripts by Josef Kastein, including his memoirs 'Mosaiken', are catalogued separately in the Leo Baeck Institute's manuscript collectionSome items have been removed from this collection, including some photographs and an audiocassette of a radio interview with Alfred Dreyer on Josef Kastein. These will be found in the LBI Photograph Collection and Audiovisual Collection, respectively.Julius Katzenstein was born on October 6, 1890 in Bremen, the son of Manus Katzenstein and his wife Karoline Katzenstein née Aschenberg. He had a younger brother, Leopold. In 1911 he began studying law at the University of Munich, where he became a member of a student Zionist movement. He continued his legal studies at universties in Freiburg im Breslau, Berlin, and Göttingen, with his first trip to Palestine taken during this time, in 1913. In 1916 he returned to Palestine with Ilse Mengers, who would later become his first wife. After completing his studies he worked as a lawyer in his hometown, Bremen. In 1919 his eldest son was born; a second would follow in 1921.In addition to his legal work Julius Katzenstein also began to write under the name Josef Kastein. His first pieces were some poetry and the play Arbeiter about Eastern European Jews, which was published in 1921. In 1922 his first novel Die Brücke was published. In 1926 he and his first wife separated; in the following year he produced the novels Melchior and Pik Adam. In 1928 Kastein gave up his legal career, left Bremen, and settled in Switzerland, first in Ascona and then later in Moscia, where he was a neighbor of the popular biographer Emil Ludwig. At this time he began to contribute to publications as well as continue to write longer works. In 1932 he resettled in Palestine, first in Tel Aviv and then later in Haifa, where he would remain for the rest of his life. These years in Palestine proved to be his most prolific, and he produced a number of works during this time. To supplement his income Josef Kastein also gave lectures and taught Hebrew.In 1936 he married Margarethe Vogl who adopted the Hebrew name Shulamith. While on a trip to Europe, she was separated from her husband by the outbreak of war in 1939, and eventually emigrated to the United States.Josef Kastein died in Haifa on June 13, 1946. Shulamith died in New York City in 1983.digitize