Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1936-1943 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2240 frames
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Wilfrid Israel, born in London in 1899 to an English Jewess and a German Jew, enjoyed a very privileged existence growing up in Berlin, where he inherited the family business, the famous N. Israel department store, with its 2000 employees. Whilst conforming to family expectations, he entertained interests in socialist Zionism, pacifism and internationalism. During the war years he became a secret intermediary, the confidant of such major figures as Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein, as well as hundreds of others, for whom he was able to arrange escapes, on account of his dual nationality and familiarity with Gestapo extortion techniques. On a return flight from Portugal in 1943, where he was effecting the rescue of more Jewish refugees, he died when his plane was shot down by German fighter aircraft.
Repository
Archival history
The papers in this collection relate to Wilfred Israel's activities as a confidential adviser on Jewish affairs at the Chatham House war-time research unit in Oxford.
GB 1556 WL 548 1936-1943 collection 2240 frames Israel , Wilfred , 1899-1943
Wilfrid Israel, born in London in 1899 to an English Jewess and a German Jew, enjoyed a very privileged existence growing up in Berlin, where he inherited the family business, the famous N. Israel department store, with its 2000 employees. Whilst conforming to family expectations, he entertained interests in socialist Zionism, pacifism and internationalism. During the war years he became a secret intermediary, the confidant of such major figures as Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein, as well as hundreds of others, for whom he was able to arrange escapes, on account of his dual nationality and familiarity with Gestapo extortion techniques. On a return flight from Portugal in 1943, where he was effecting the rescue of more Jewish refugees, he died when his plane was shot down by German fighter aircraft.
The papers in this collection relate to Wilfred Israel's activities as a confidential adviser on Jewish affairs at the Chatham House war-time research unit in Oxford.
Israel family
Copies of original essays, memoranda and private papers, 1936-1943, covering such subjects as the Weimar Republic, the rise of National Socialism, German Communist and Socialist parties and trade unions, and the Jewish refugee problem. Also a fairly comprehensive collection of the 'Political Group Papers' (1941-1943) from the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Committee on Reconstruction.
None
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
English German
Microfilm
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
Wiener Collection, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Shepherd, Naomi, Wilfred Israel: German Jewry's Secret Ambassador, (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1984).
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. October 2007 Collectivism Communism European history German history Israel , Wilfred , 1899-1943 Jews Labour relations Migrants National history National Socialist German Workers Party x Nazi Party Nazism Political doctrines Refugees Religious groups Royal Institute of International Affairs x Chatham House Socialism Third Reich Totalitarianism Trade unions
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Israel family
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Copies of original essays, memoranda and private papers, 1936-1943, covering such subjects as the Weimar Republic, the rise of National Socialism, German Communist and Socialist parties and trade unions, and the Jewish refugee problem. Also a fairly comprehensive collection of the 'Political Group Papers' (1941-1943) from the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Committee on Reconstruction.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
None
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English German
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Political doctrines » Collectivism
- Political doctrines » Collectivism » Communism
- National history » European history
- Religious groups » Jews
- Labour relations
- Migrants
- National history
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism » Nazism
- Political doctrines
- Migrants » Refugees
- Religious groups
- Political doctrines » Collectivism » Socialism
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism
- Labour relations » Trade unions
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English