Zosa Szajkowski Collection, 1900s-1947

Summary Information

Abstract

This collection contains an eclectic variety of materials collected by Jewish historian, archivist, and bibliographer Zosa Szajkowski (1911-1978). Materials include organizational records, documents, correspondence, periodicals, printed ephemera related to Eastern European Jewish life in France in 1920s and 1930s and on the territories of modern Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and Russia in the first quarter of the 20th century.

At a Glance

Arrangement

• Series I: Jewish Organizations and Groups in France, 1922-1947
• Aid and Relief Groups and Organizations, 1931-1939, undated
• Anarchists: Anarchistishe un Anarcho-Syndikalist Grupe in Paris, Anarcho-Komunistishe Grupe, Anarcho-Syndikalistishe Grupe, Farband fun Yidishe Anarcho-Syndikalistn un Anarcho-Komunistn; Yid[ishe] Anarchistishe Grupe, Yid[ishe] Anarch[istishe] Yugnt Gustav Landoyer (Jewish Anarchist group, Jewish Anarchist Youth Gustav Landauer); Grupe Revolutsionere Anarchistn-Syndikalistn, 1926-1938, undated
• Anti-War, Anti-Fascism, and Anti-Antisemitism Organizations, 1932-1947, undated
• Birobidzhan Related Materials, 1932-[1936], undated
• Communists, 1930-1937, undated
• Educational Organizations, 1929-1937, undated
• Kultur-Lige in Frankraych (Ligue Juive D'enseignement en France), 1922-1936, undated
• Medical Organizations, 1932-1938, undated
• Neighborhood Workers Organizations and Groups, 1935-1936, undated
• Press Organizations, 1927-1934, undated
• Sport Organizations: Yidish Arbeter Sports-Klub (Y.A.S.K.) [Klub Sportif Ouvrier Juif], 1932 - 1937
• Trade-Unionist Organizations and Groups, 1938, undated
• Women's Groups, 1932-1937
• Various Jewish Organizations in France, 1930-1938, undated
• Series II: Jews and Jewish Life in Imperial Russia and Eastern Europe, 1905-1939
• Political Parties and Groups, 1903-1912, undated
• Jewish Organizations, 1902-1919, undated
• Jewish Periodicals and Publications, 1902-1929, undated
• Pogroms and Antisemitic Writings and Publications, 1905-1919, undated
• Revolution and Civil War
• Ukrains'ka Narodna Respublika (Ukrainian People's Republic), 1917-1926
• Series III: International and Chinese Jewish Organizations, 1919-1930
• Comité des Delegations Juives, 1919, 1924
• Kharbinskoe Evreiskoe Dukhovnoe Obshchestvo, 1930
• Series IV: Russkii Obshchekolonial'nyi Komitet v Parizhe, 1917
• Series V: A. (Aleksei) Lozovskii Materials, 1909-1913, 1917, undated

Description

Scope and Contents

Collection arranged in five series.

Series I contains material related to the political and cultural activities of Eastern European Jews in France, mainly in Paris, in the interwar period. At that time, Paris served as home to numerous grassroots organizations including aid and relief, cultural, workers, educational, political, medical, sport, anti-fascist, press, trade-unionist, women and other organizations, groups, and clubs. There are organizational records, correspondence, manuscripts, printed and handmade posters, flyers, event tickets, invitations and programs, calls for actions, appeals, photographs, drawings, etc. Notably this series contains an archive of the Kultur-Lige in Frankraych.

Series II comprises materials, mostly printed, related to social and political life of Jews on the territory of Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, and Poland in the first quarter of the 20th century. There are posters, flyers, clippings, leaflets, open letters, periodicals, publications, propaganda ephemera in Hebrew, Russian, Ukrainian and Yiddish covering such subjects as revolutionary events of the 1910s, pogroms, anti-semitism, the 1917 revolution and the civil war. There are also materials of various Jewish organizations and groups including the Bund, Poalei Zion, Zionists, etc., and a group of material related to the Ukrainian People's Republic, including notable legislative acts on the statute of Jewish communities and Jewish autonomy, and other documents.

Series III includes materials of two Jewish organization. First, the Comité des Delegations Juives (Committee of Jewish Delegations), international body established in 1919 to alert the Paris Peace Conference to the grave situation of the Jews in various European countries and to obtain international guarantees for safeguarding their rights. Second, Jewish organization in China - Kharbinskoe Evreiskoe Dukhovnoe Obshchestvo, established in 1902 in Kharbin.

Series IV comprises correspondence relating to the creation of the Russkii Obshchekolonial'nyi komitet v Parizhe to protect the interests of Russian citizens.

Series V consists of notes, documents, and letters of Solomon Abramovich Lozovskii (1878-1952, born Dridzo, pseudonym - A. (Aleksei) Lozovksii), prominent bolshevik, participant in the revolutionary and trade union movement in Russia and France. There are mostly his notes on the professional labor movement abroad, mainly in France. His materials are of interest to researchers of unions and labor movement of the early 20th century, as well as for a biographer of Lozovskii.

• Series I: Jewish Organizations and Groups in France, 1922-1947

  Correspondence, manuscripts, organizational records, and printed materials relating to Jewish communist, socialist, workers', aid and relief organizations, groups and clubs in France in 1920s-1930s. There are appeals, event announcements and invitations, subscription lists, membership cards, regulations, declarations, leterheads, anti-pogrom, anti-war, anti-fascist, anti-imperialism propaganda flyers and posters both printed and handmade. In 1920s-1930s France, and Paris particularly, also served as home of several Yiddish cultural and scholarly organizations, most notably the Kulture-Lige of France (Kultur-Lige in Frankraych / Ligue Juive D'enseignement en France), which archive is a part of this Series.

• Series II: Jews and Jewish Life in Imperial Russia and Eastern Europe, 1905-1939

  Collection of materials, mostly printed, related to social and political life of Jews on the territory of Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, and Poland in the first quarter of the 20th century. Thematically they cover such subjects as revolutionary events of the 1910s, pogroms, anti-semitism, the 1917 revolution and the civil war. Most of the items concern Jews and Jewish life, and others deal with the revolutionary movement and the civil war. Also included are materials of various Jewish organizations and groups among which are the Bund, Poalei Zion, Zionists, etc. There is a group of material related to the Ukrainian People's Republic, including notable legislative acts on the statute of Jewish communities and Jewish autonomy, and other documents.

• Series III: International and Chinese Jewish Organizations, 1919-1930

• Series IV: Russkii Obshchekolonial'nyi Komitet v Parizhe, 1917

  Correspondence relating to the creation of the Russkii Obshchekolonial'nyi komitet v Parizhe to protect the interests of Russian citizens

• Series V: A. (Aleksei) Lozovskii Materials, 1909-1913, 1917, undated

  Letters, notes and documents of Solomon Abramovich Lozovskii (nom de plume - A. (Aleksei) Lozovskii; born - Dridzo), a prominent figure among high-ranking Bolsheviks, participant in the revolutionary and trade union movement in Russia and France, secretary of the Chambre Syndicale des Ouvriers Casquettiers. He was interested in workers' unions, workers insurance issues, establishment of fixed wage rates, organization of strikes to meet the demands of workers. He monitored and kept notes on the development of these matters mainly in France but also in other countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, etc).

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection is located on-site.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Zosa Szajkowski Collection; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection: Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--1950.

Collection: Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--1958.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection Accessioned 1950.

Collection Accessioned 1958.

Collection Processed 07/--/81.

Collection Processed 01/--/82.

This collection was reprocessed in 2022 by Sandra Chiritescu, GSAS '21; Daniela Goodman Rabner, Barnard College '22; Katia Davidenko. The processing of this collection was made possible by the Norman E. Alexander Fund for Jewish Studies. Finding aid written by Katia Davidenko.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical sketch

Zosa Szajkowski, born Yehoshua or Szajko (Shaike or Shayke) Frydman, (10 January 1911, Zareby, Poland – 26 September 1978, New York), Jewish historian, archivist, bibliographer.

In 1927 Szajkowski moved to France, where he enrolled as a student at the Sorbonne. First he became involved in the French Communist movement but in the late 1930s, influenced by a group "of Jewish intellectuals from Poland, some of whom were previously connected to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Vilna, and from Germany" he left the Communist movement (Source: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14512281.pdf).

With the outbreak of World War Two, Szajkowski became a member of the Foreign Legion, was wounded, and evacuated to Bordeaux and then to Carpentras. In 1941 (or late 1940) he moved to the United States, joined the United States Army, and served in Europe in the Normandy, Rhineland and Ardennes Campaigns as a combat paratrooper, interpreter, and interrogator.

From 1945 to 1978 Szajkowski was a research associate at the YIVO Institute. He authored works on a various topics in Jewish history, including the history of French Jewry and Jews in Eastern Europe.

After the war, Szajkowski stole tens of thousands of documents about Jews from French archives and sold them to libraries in the United States as detailed by Dr. Lisa Leff in "The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust" (2015, OUP).