Herman Taube papers

The Herman Taube papers consist of articles, manuscripts, poetry, presentations, and translations by Herman Taube, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, as well as correspondence, photographs, and printed materials documenting Taube's career as a writer, journalist, and educator, which was often influenced by his own Holocaust experiences in Łódź, Siberia, and the Second Polish Army. The collection also includes biographical materials documenting Taube's wife's Czech stepmother, Marie Koreffová, who survived Auschwitz, Theresienstadt, and Flossenbürg, as well as translations of evidence presented at the Nuremberg Trial. Herman Taube’s articles cover Holocaust and religious topics and include a regular column he wrote in 1968 called “Getting to Know You” and reviews he wrote about other authors’ works. Additional articles can be found in the “Scrapbooks” series. Series 2 includes manuscripts for novels Against All Despair and The Refugees: Refugee Village, a play called The Blizzard, the Rabbi, and the Barmaid, and English and German versions of a non-fiction work called The Translator: A Love Story. Poetry includes manuscripts for formal and informal poetry collections titled 50 Years of Poetry; At the Shores of Syr Darya; Eighty Years Around the World: The Collected Works of Herman Taube; For: Mrs. Michlean Amir, Thank you in advance; To Keep their Memory Alive; and Untitled. Loose poems, poems published in periodicals, and poems published in a UJS Mission reunion program are also included. Additional poems can be found in the “Scrapbooks” series. The presentations includes presentations, speeches, and lectures on Holocaust, religious, and literary topics given by Taube at religious, educational, and cultural events. Scrapbooks include poems and articles by Taube as well as correspondence and programs documenting his cultural life. Similar materials can also be found in the “Articles,” “Poetry,” and “Presentations” series and in the “Correspondence” and “Writings by Others” series. The translations include Taube’s translation, primarily from Yiddish to English, of poetry, correspondence, and essays by other authors. Additional writings by Taube include essays and interviews on Holocaust and literary topics. Correspondence incudes letters from Elie Wiesel, correspondence about the publication of Taube’s works, letters from Jewish organizations with whom Taube worked, and thank you letters from organizations for whom Taube gave presentations. Additional correspondence can be found in the Scrapbooks series. Photographs depict Herman and Susan Taube and events they attended, exhibits at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and Warsaw, Poland. Printed material includes clippings about Herman Taube, reviews of his work, programs featuring Taube, and a course syllabus and reading material from a course he taught about the Holocaust. Additional printed materials can be found in the Scrapbooks series. Writings by others include Holocaust narratives documenting Auschwitz, Bialystok, Jasionówka, Turek, and Warsaw. Marie Koreffová papers include identification papers and restitutions files documenting the property damage, bodily harm, and medical problems she and her husband suffered during the Holocaust. Nuremberg Trial evidence consists of copies of English translations of evidentiary documents prepared for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Taube obtained these copies from the Isaac Franck Jewish Public Library, in Rockville, Maryland.

The Herman Taube papers are arranged as seven series and seven subseries: I. Writings by Taube, 1940-2012, Subseries 1: Articles, 1968-2008, Subseries 2: Non-fiction, novels, and a play, approximately 1970s-2007, Subseries 3: Poetry, 1940-2011, Subseries 4: Presentations/Speeches/Lectures, 1980-2006, Subseries 5: Scrapbooks, 1970-2003, Subseries 6: Translations, approximately 1990-2005, Subseries 7: Other writings, approximately 1977-2012, II. Correspondence, 1948-2008, III. Photographs, approximately 1968-2008, IV. Printed material, 1948-2008, V. Writings by others, approximately 1945-1987, VI. Marie Koreffová papers, 1934-1948, VII. Nuremberg Trial evidence, 1945-1946