Erwin Lichtenstein Collection

The collection documents the work and the responses to Erwin Lichtenstein's book Die Juden der Freien Stadt Danzig unter der Herrschaft des Nationalsozialismus 1933-1945. A significant part of the collection is related to this book which was published in 1973 for the Leo Baeck Institute.

The correspondence in Series I contains professional correspondence from the years 1954 until 1976, correspondence with the Leo Baeck Institute, letters from Günter Grass and Hebrew correspondence. Folder 1 of this series comprises the correspondence between Günter Grass and Erwin Lichtenstein from 1967-1989. The correspondence discusses family problems, several books by Günter Grass and the work of Erwin Lichtenstein. Correspondence in Hebrew can be found in Folder 2. Folders 3-7 of Series I are letters from Erwin Lichtenstein to the Leo Baeck Institute. These folders contain not only the correspondence between the Institute and the donor himself, they additionally includes letters in reminiscence of Max Fürst and correspondence from and with Erwin Lichtenstein's father, Max Lichtenstein. Each package of letters starts with a letter from Erwin Lichtenstein to the Leo Baeck Institute, pointing out the content of the delivery. Folder 8 holds professional correspondence. These letters pertain to the publication of the book about the Jews of Danzig and the correspondents' views on anti-Semitism and Danzig.

Erwin Lichtenstein's publication about the Jews of Danzig was of great interest to many readers, historians and the press. His achievements and criticism of his work are documented in the book reviews in Folder 9 in Series II. In addition, newspaper articles about Günter Grass from 1976-1984 are also present in Series II in Folder 10.

Series III contains corrections and changes to Erwin Lichtenstein's book in Folder 11. The original manuscript of this publication is located in Folder 12 in Series III.

Series IV contains addenda that were added to the collection at a later date than the previous series; their original order has been left unchanged. Some topics addressed in the addenda are the friendship between the families of John L. Vogelstein and Erwin Lichtenstein, the relationship between Julie Braun-Vogelstein and Adam von Trott zu Solz and the political reality of the State of Israel.