The Rabbi Nathan Baruch collection Related to Vaad Hatzala for Germany

Identifier
irn36003
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2008.180.1
  • RG-19.072
Dates
1 Jan 1943 - 31 Dec 1975, 1 Jan 1946 - 31 Dec 1948
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
  • English
  • Hebrew
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

boxes

oversize boxes

4

5

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Rabbi Nathan Baruch was born on June 7, 1921. He was the director of Vaad Hatzala in Germany from September 1946 to September 1949. The Vaad Hatzala Rescue Committee was originally established in November 1939 to rescue Polish rabbis and yeshiva students who escaped to Lithuania at the beginning of World War II. It later expanded to include assistance to all Jewish Holocaust survivors. Rabbi Baruch established the central Vaad Hatzala office in Germany and was responsible for reestablishing Jewish religious life in Europe. His duties included the printing and distribution of religious items, including prayer books, haggadahs, Torahs, pocket sized editions of the Talmud, and other sefarim. Rabbi Baruch was instrumental in getting the United States Army to print, in 1948, the 19 volume Heidelberg Talmud. The texts were distributed to displaced persons camps and Jewish communities worldwide. He married, had a daughter, and died in Long Beach, New York, on November 28, 2001, at the age of 81.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Doris Baruch

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the collection from Mrs. Doris Baruch, Rabbi Baruch’s widow, on February 5, 2008.

Scope and Content

Contains materials related to Rabbi Nathan Baruch’s Directorship of the Vaad Hatzala for Germany, 1946-1948 and that organization’s activities related to the reestablishment of Jewish religious life. Includes a photo album, two scrapbooks, and one haggadah.

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.