Sammlung Benjamin Murmelstein (P151)
Extent and Medium
2 microfilm reels, 35 mm
89 digital images, JPEG
Creator(s)
- Benjamin Murmelstein
Biographical History
Benjamin Murmelstein (1905-1989), a rabbi and intellectual, became head of the emigration department of the welfare office of the Jewish Community Vienna after the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany and the reopening of the Jewish community under Nazi control on May 2, 1938. In that capacity, Murmelstein worked closely with Adolf Eichmann and the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. After his deportation to Theresienstadt, he eventually became the last head of the Jewish Council in Theresienstadt. Murmelstein was extensively interviewed by Claude Lanzmann for his seminal documentary Shoah but the interview was not used in that film. Lanzmann chose Murmelstein as the subject of his 2013 documentary "The Last of the Unjust" which is based on the interviews. [Source: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP)]
Archival History
Arkhiyon ha-merkazi le-toldot ha-ʻam ha-Yehudi
Acquisition
Source of acquisition is the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP) (Arkhiyon ha-merkazi le-toldot ha-ʻam ha-Yehudi ), Signature: P151. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received this collection via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in June 2016.
Scope and Content
Personal papers of Benjamin Murmelstein and his family: correspondence, official reports and documents from the Jewish Community Vienna, family photographs, articles and manuscripts written by Benjamin Murmelstein.
System of Arrangement
Arranges in five series: 1. Personal documents of Benjamin Murmelstein and his family, 1922-1950; 2. Correspondence, 1927-1940; 3. Jewish Community in Vienna, 1928-1938; 4. Articles and manuscripts (not dates); 5. Family photographs (88 photographs), 1930-1950.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Arkhiyon ha-merkazi le-toldot ha-ʻam ha-Yehudi
People
- Murmelstein, Benjamin, 1905-1989.
Corporate Bodies
- Jewish committees (ushmm)
- Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Austria--Politics and government--1938-1945.
- Vienna (Austria)
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Austria--Vienna.
- Jews--Legal status, laws, etc.--Austria.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Austria--Vienna.
Genre
- Reports.
- Document
- Manuscripts.
- Articles.
- Correspondence.
- Photographs.