The record group contains a variety of documentation collected by Dr. Chaim Pazner (Chaim Posner) over the course of his life, mainly while serving as Director of the Eretz Yisraeli Office in Geneva, Switzerland. - Files 80-112 include files of the War Refugee Board (WRB) in the United States.- Files 115-126 include personal documentation regarding Pazner's post-war activities including his role as Deputy Director of Yad Vashem.

Chaim Pazner Archives: Representative of the Jewish Agency for Eretz Israel in Switzerland during World War II The record group contains a variety of documentation collected by Dr. Chaim Pazner (Chaim Posner) over the course of his life, mainly while serving as Director of the Eretz Israel Office in Geneva, Switzerland. - Files 80-112 include files of the War Refugee Board (WRB) in the United States. - Files 115-126 include personal documentation regarding Pazner's post-war activities including his role as Deputy Chairman of Yad Vashem. Chaim Pazner was born in Kowal, Poland, 04 January 1899. In his youth he was active in the Hechalutz movement in the Wloclawek area in Poland, and he served as Vice-Principal of the Hebrew High School in Wloclawek. He was the director of the Committee of Assistance to Polish Refugees in Danzig, 1920-1922. He also served as the representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Association (JTA) in Danzig, 1921-1923. He was one of the leaders of the League for Working Eretz Israel in Wloclawek, and he was elected as a representative to the 12th Zionist Congress in Karlsbad and to other Zionist conventions. He was the head of the Labor Zionist Movement in Danzig, 1931-1937. Pazner served as the Director of the Eretz Israel Office in Danzig, May 1934-late 1938. His work came to an end when he was forced to leave Danzig. He received a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Basel, 1939. Pazner served as the Director of the Eretz Israel Office in Geneva, 01 January 1940-late 1948; part of the time he was also the representative of the Jewish Agency Finance Department in Europe. He joined the [Israel] Finance Ministry, November 1948, and served as the Ministry representative in Europe, until 16 April 1953. He also served as a lecturer on Hebrew Language and Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages at the University of Geneva, 1945-1953. Pazner moved to Israel in 1953, assuming the position of Director of Revenue in the Foreign Currency Department of the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, which he held until 1956. He served as the financial advisor for the Israeli Embassies in Argentina and Uruguay, 1957-1960; and as economic attaché at the Israeli Embassy in Sweden, 1960-1962. He served as a member of the Secretariat for the Internal Auditing Unit and as a judge in the Mapai Party High Court. After his retirement in 1962, Pazner was involved in writing, among other things, and he authored the book "Zur Planwirtschaft der Sowietunion (The Planned Economy of the Soviet Union)" regarding the proposed economic policy in the Soviet Union, and other books as well.

No additional accurals will be added to this collection

In this fonds we firstly note files nr. 15 and 27, resp. covering the years 1943-1945 and 1940-1945. They contain correspondence between several Palestine Offices (Eretz Israel Office / Palästina Amt), Jewish Agency offices, and Jewish political leaders in Belgium, concerning requests for certificates allowing legal aliyah to Palestine. These files also contain reports on the situation of the Jews in Belgium, publications (i.a. the underground paper Unzer Wort), lists of people requesting legal entry visas to Palestine, etc. Correspondence of Chaim Pazner concerning the rescue of Jewish children from i.a. Belgium (years 1942-1947) can be found in nr. 22. In file nr. 18 we note correspondence between Pazner and Richard Lichtheim with regards to rescue activities and aliyah certificates that need to be delivered in Brussels (1943). Information (correspondence, articles, reports, various documents) on Pazner’s activities concerning Belgium, rescue operations, the situation of the Jews in occupied Belgium, relief operations after the war etc. can be found in i.a files nr. 8, 16, 57, 60, 66, 73 and 114.