The Abraham Silberschein Archive, Geneva: Documentation regarding relief to persecuted Jews, 1939-1951
Extent and Medium
243 Files
Creator(s)
Biographical History
Born in 1882, in Lwow, Poland, Dr. Abraham Silberschein was an attorney who dedicated himself to public service. He was one of the outstanding leaders of the Labor Zionist movement in Poland, and in 1922, he was elected by the movement to serve in the Polish Sejm as the Labor Zionist representative . In 1930 he arrived in Geneva as a representative to the Zionist Congress. Due to the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Silberschein did not return to Poland, but he remained in Switzerland from where he tried to organize relief activities for the persecuted Jews in Poland and Germany. He was the founder of the "Relico" Organization and through Relico he administered rescue and relief activities throughout the war and afterwards. He maintained contact and cooperated with Jewish institutions throughout the world as well as with non-Jewish bodies in Switzerland to which he passed on information regarding German war crimes in the occupied countries of Europe. He gleaned the most important information from testimonies of refugees who succeeded in escaping from Poland. He duplicated these reports on mimeograph machines in 1944 and made them available to newspapers and diplomatic legations in Switzerland, as well as to Jewish organizations. He considered the essence of his activity to be the sending of rescue documents to as many Jews as possible in the German occupied countries.
Archival History
Dr. Abraham Silberschein's archive was transferred to Israel from Geneva after Dr. Silberschein's death in 1952. For ten years, the archive was housed in the cellar of the Poalei Zion-Hitachdut party (some of whose members joined the Mapai party) building in Tel Aviv. In 1962 the archive was transferred to Yad Vashem.
Scope and Content
The archive contains material from 1939-1950. Most of the material deals with relief activities for the Jews of Poland, the Netherlands, France, Italy and other countries. Additionally, there is documentation regarding rescue attempts in which Dr. Silberschein was involved. In the archive there is much documentation regarding the condition of the Jews in these countries during World War II and afterwards, as well as documentation regarding the condition of the Jews in the DP camps in Germany and Austria. Ten files that previously had been part of the archives of Josef Tahon, a public figure in Poland were added to the Silberschein Archive. Tahon, too, arrived in Geneva in 1939 and remained there until he could emigrate to the United States in early 1941.
System of Arrangement
The original order of the archive had not been preserved, and when the material was brought to Yad Vashem, an attempt was made to sort the material and file it according to the original order, as it was assumed to have been. Besides the correspondence files, a series of files was set up according to subjects and places, as well as files with reports and testimonies regarding the events in the German occupied countries.
Finding Aids
Description of the files are available on IDEA ALM system at Yad Vashem Archives reading room and on the Yad Vashem website
Existence and Location of Originals
YV archives
Archivist Note
JL according to the description of the RG in the Yad Vashem system
Dates of Descriptions
2012-05-28
People
Corporate Bodies
Places
- Geneva
Archives of A. Silberschein, Geneva (Relico).
Extent and Medium
243 files.
Creator(s)
- Silberschein, Abraham
Scope and Content
In this fonds, we firstly note the correspondence of Silberschein with the Fédération des Juifs polonais en Belgique, concerning relief for Shoah survivors and financial support (file nr. 8; years 1946-1949). In nr. 110 we find several reports (i.a. a detailed activity report of the Comité de Défense des Juifs, 1942-1943) and correspondence concerning the situation of the Jews in Belgium, the deportations, difficulties in emigrating to the United States, the condition of intellectual refugees in Belgium, necessary relief, … for the period 1940-1944. File 89 (1945-1947) contains correspondence with E. Lapman in Brussels, with regards to financial aid and the activities of the Poale Zion party. Bulletins published by Silberschein concerning the condition of Polish Jewish Shoah survivors in i.a. Belgium can be found in nr. 207 (1946). Nr. 29 contains, among others, a letter concerning a group of Jewish children from Brussels, detained at the Spanish border (1943). Lastly, we note in nr. 112 a photograph of Jewish soldiers of the Polish army, praying with Belgian Shoah survivors on Yom Kippur (in Ghent).
Finding Aids
The database available online at http://collections1.yadvashem.org/ serves as a finding aid.
Process Info
The EHRI project, in cooperation with the National Archives of Belgium, selected Holocaust-relevant archival descriptions from the finding aid G. DESMET & P. FALEK-ALHADEFF, P.-A. TALLIER (dir.), Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van de Joden en het Jodendom in België (19de-20ste eeuw) - Sources pour l'histoire des populations juives et du judaïsme en Belgique (19e-20e siècles), Brussel, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 2015. Please note that this guide focuses on Belgium-related archival materials in the respective descriptions.
Gertjan Desmet
This archival description was created in the framework of the cooperation between EHRI and the Yerusha project.
Subjects
- resistance
- Shoah survivors
- Jewish holidays
- reconstruction
- children
M.20 - Archive of Dr. Abraham Silberschein, Geneva: Documentation regarding relief to persecuted Jews, 1939-1951
Extent and Medium
Official documentation
Archival History
The materials were transferred to Yad Vashem by World Jewish Congress (WJC)
Dr. Abraham Silberschein's archive was transferred to Israel from Geneva after Dr. Silberschein's death in 1952. For ten years, the archive was housed in the cellar of the Poalei Zion-Hitachdut party (some of whose members joined the Mapai party) building in Tel Aviv. In 1962 the archive was transferred to Yad Vashem. The archive contains material from 1939-1950. Most of the material deals with relief activities for the Jews of Poland, the Netherlands, France, Italy and other countries. Additionally, there is documentation regarding rescue attempts in which Dr. Silberschein was involved. In the archive there is much documentation regarding the condition of the Jews in these countries during World War II and afterwards, as well as documentation regarding the condition of the Jews in the DP camps in Germany and Austria. Ten files that previously had been part of the archives of Josef Tahon, a public figure in Poland were added to the Silberschein Archive. Tahon, too, arrived in Geneva in 1939 and remained there until he could emigrate to the United States in early 1941.
Scope and Content
M.20 - Archive of Dr. Abraham Silberschein, Geneva: Documentation regarding relief to persecuted Jews, 1939-1951 Born in 1882, in Lwow, Poland, Dr. Abraham Silberschein was an attorney who dedicated himself to public service. He was one of the outstanding leaders of the Labor Zionist movement in Poland, and in 1922, he was elected by the movement to serve in the Polish Sejm as the Labor Zionist representative . In 1930 he arrived in Geneva as a representative to the Zionist Congress. Due to the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Silberschein did not return to Poland, but he remained in Switzerland from where he tried to organize relief activities for the persecuted Jews in Poland and Germany. He was the founder of the "Relico" Organization and through Relico he administered rescue and relief activities throughout the war and afterwards. He maintained contact and cooperated with Jewish institutions throughout the world as well as with non-Jewish bodies in Switzerland to which he passed on information regarding German war crimes in the occupied countries of Europe. He gleaned the most important information from testimonies of refugees who succeeded in escaping from Poland. He duplicated these reports on mimeograph machines in 1944 and made them available to newspapers and diplomatic legations in Switzerland, as well as to Jewish organizations. He considered the essence of his activity to be the sending of rescue documents to as many Jews as possible in the German occupied countries.
Accruals
No additional accurals will be added to this collection.
System of Arrangement
The original order of the archive had not been preserved, and when the material was brought to Yad Vashem, an attempt was made to sort the material and file it according to the original order, as it was assumed to have been. Besides the correspondence files, a series of files was set up according to subjects and places, as well as files with reports and testimonies regarding the events in the German occupied countries.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals held by Yad Vashem
Process Info
Yad Vashem Archives
Corporate Bodies
- RELICO - Relief Committe for war Stricken Jewish Population
Places
- Geneve,Geneve,<>,Switzerland
M.20 - ארכיון דר' אברהם זילברשיין ז'נווה, תיעוד על אודות סיוע ליהודים נרדפים, 1951-1939
Extent and Medium
תעוד רשמי
Archival History
החומרים נמסרו ליד ושם על ידי
ארכיונו של ד"ר אברהם זילבשיין הובא ארצה מ-Geneve לאחר מותו ב-1952. במשך עשר שנים אחסנו את הארכיון במרתף של בית מפלגת פועלי ציון - התאחדות (שחלק מחבריה הצטרף למפלגת מפא"י) בתל אביב. ב-1962 הועבר הארכיון ליד ושם. רוב החומר עוסק בפעולות העזרה ליהודי פולין, הולנד, צרפת, איטליה וארצות אחרות. כמו כן, יש תיעוד בנוגע לניסיונות ההצלה שבהן היה ד"ר זילברשיין מעורב. בארכיון יש גם תיעוד רב על אודות מצב היהודים בארצות אלה בימי מלחמת העולם השניה ולאחריה, וכן תיעוד על אודות מצב היהודים במחנות העקורים בגרמניה ובאוסטריה. לארכיון זילברשיין צורפו גם עשרה תיקים שהיו שייכים לארכיונו של יוסף טהון, עסקן ציבורי מפולין. אף טהון הגיע ל-Geneve ב-1939 ונשאר בה עד שעלה בידו להגר לארצות הברית בתחילת 1941.
Scope and Content
ארכיון ד"ר אברהם זילברשיין ז'נווה, תיעוד על אודות סיוע ליהודים נרדפים, 1951-1939 ד"ר אברהם זילברשיין נולד ב-Lwow שבפולין בשנת 1882 . הוא היה עורך דין והתמסר לעסקנות ציבורית. ד"ר זילברשיין היה בין האישים הבולטים בתנועת העבודה הציונית בפולין ונבחר מטעמה לציר בסיים הפולני בשנת 1922. הוא הגיע בתור ציר לקונגרס הציוני ה-21 ב-Geneve ב-1930.בגלל פרוץ המלחמה לא חזר לפולין ונשאר בשוויץ. הוא ניסה לארגן משוויץ פעולות עיזר ליהודים הנרדפים בפולין ובגרמניה. ד"ר זילברשיין יסד את ארגון Relico, ובאמצעותו ניהל במהלך המלחמה ולאחריה את פעולות העזרה וההצלה. הוא קיים קשרים ושיתוף פעולה עם מוסדות יהודיים בעולם וגם עם גורמים לא-יהודים בשוויץ, שלהם מסר מידע על פשעי גרמנים בארצות אירופה הכבושה. הוא שאב את המידע החשוב ביותר מעדויות פליטים שהצליחו לברוח מפולין. דוחות אלה הוציא בשיכפול ב-1944 והמציאם לעיתונים ולנציגויות דיפלומטיות בשוויץ, וכן גם לארגונים יהודיים. את עיקר פעילותו ראה במשלוח תעודות הצלה ליהודים רבים ככל האפשר בארצות הכיבוש הגרמני.
בארכיון חומר מן השנים 1939- 1950. רוב החומר עוסק בפעולות העזרה ליהודי פולין, הולנד, צרפת, איטליה וארצות אחרות. כמו כן, יש תיעוד בנוגע לניסיונות ההצלה שבהן היה ד"ר זילברשיין מעורב. בארכיון יש גם תיעוד רב על אודות מצב היהודים בארצות אלה בימי מלחמת העולם השניה ולאחריה, וכן תיעוד על אודות מצב היהודים במחנות העקורים בגרמניה ובאוסטריה. לארכיון זילברשיין צורפו גם עשרה תיקים שהיו שייכים לארכיונו של יוסף טהון, עסקן ציבורי מפולין. אף טהון הגיע ל-Geneve ב-1939 ונשאר בה עד שעלה בידו להגר לארצות הברית בתחילת 1941.
Accruals
האוסף הינו אוסף סגור ולא צפוי להתווסף אליו תיעוד נוסף בעתיד.
System of Arrangement
הסדר המקורי של הארכיון לא נשמר, וכשהובא ליד ושם ניסו למיין את החומר ולתייקו על פי הסדר המקורי המשוער. מלבד תיקי המכתבים נוצרה סדרת תיקים שנבנו על פי נושאים ומקומות, וכן תיקים ובהם דוחות ועדויות על אודות הנעשה בארצות הכיבוש הגרמני.
Existence and Location of Originals
התיעוד המקורי של חטיבה זו נמצא בארכיון יד ושם
Process Info
ארכיון יד ושם
Corporate Bodies
- RELICO - Relief Committe for war Stricken Jewish Population
Places
- Geneve,Geneve,<>,Switzerland