Finding Aid (English)
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https://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection GERALD SCHWAB PAPERS, 1885-2012 2002.327.25 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington, DC 20024-2126 Tel. (202) 479-9717 e-mail: [email protected] Descriptive summary Title: Gerald Schwab papers Dates: 1885-2012 Accession number: 2002.327.25 Creator: Schwab, Gerald, 1925-2014 Extent: 7.0 linear feet [10 boxes, 1 oversize box, 2 book enclosures, 21 oversize folders, 2 sound cassettes, 2 sound discs (CD), 2 videodisks (DVD), 4 disks (3 ½ inch)] Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126 Abstract: The Gerald Schwab papers document Schwab’s work for the International Military Tribunal following World War II; research for his books The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan and OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland: Destination Innsbruck; his efforts to receive restitutions for Holocaust-era losses; biographical, genealogical, and photographic materials documenting Schwab and his family; and audiovisual and electronic records documenting Schwab’s interests in Holocaust-era topics. Languages: English, German, French Administrative Information Access: Collection is open for use, but is stored offsite. Please contact the Reference Desk more than seven days prior to visit in order to request access. Physical access: Negatives in the collection are kept in cold storage for preservation reasons and would require additional time for acclimatization before they can be served to researchers. Technical access: Electronic and audiovisual materials stored on optical and magnetic media that is not digitally available might not be accessible physically due to physical deterioration or lack of required software or hardware. This includes all of the material in the audiovisual and electronic records series. https://collections.ushmm.org https://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection Reproduction and use: Collection is available for use. Material may be protected by copyright. Please contact reference staff for further information. Preferred citation: Gerald Schwab papers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC Acquisition information: Gerald Schwab and his daughters Susan Schwab and Teresa Marshall donated the Gerald Schwab papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002, 2015, and 2016. The accession formerly cataloged as 2015.513.1 has been incorporated into this collection. Separated materials: Gerald Schwab also donated several armbands, medals, pins, patches, badges, currency, scrip, and linen Notgeld (2002.327.2 through 2002.327.24 and others) to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. A CD tiled US Restitution of Nazi-Looted Cultural Treasures to the USSR, 1949-1959, dated 2001 from NARA is being transferred to the Museum’s library. A CD marking the Museum’s 2005 Days of Remembrance has been transferred to the Institutional Archives. Related archival materials: The Museum also holds an oral history interview conducted with Gerald Schwab on November 18, 1997. An oral history interview conducted with Schwab on July 29, 1997 that forms part of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute Visual History Archive can be viewed onsite at the Museum. Accruals: Accruals may have been received since this collection was first processed, see archives catalog at collections.ushmm.org for further information. Processing history: Michael Folkerts, April 2015, revised by Julie Schweitzer, August 2019 Biographical note Gerald Schwab (1925-2014) was born Gerd Abraham Schwab to David and Paula (d. 1995) Schwab in Freiburg, Germany. David Schwab owned a plumbing supply company that required travel to Switzerland. After the boycott of Jewish businesses in 1933, the family left Germany for Basel, Switzerland, and when the Swiss authorities did not permit them to stay, they moved just across the border into France so David could commute to his job in Basel and not give up his business. When the French government established restrictive limits on travel for German refugees, the family returned to Germany. They applied for affidavits to the United States and sent Gerald to be sheltered by a family near Zurich, Switzerland. The family immigrated together to the United States via Italy in 1940. Schwab was drafted into the U.S. Army in in 1943, and served with the 10th Mountain Division until he was transferred to an intelligence unit and assigned to the U.S. Detailed Interrogation Center, where he served as translator and interpreter. After his discharge in 1946, Schwab worked for the International Military Tribunal (IMT), where he continued to serve as translator and interpreter. He translated for the commission hearing evidence on the seven Nazi organizations under indictment by the IMT, and the hearings of the German High Command and General Staff of the Wehrmacht. Schwab remained in Nuremberg until the defendants were executed, and then moved to Berlin to work for the U.S. Chief of Consul. In 1947, Schwab returned to the U.S. and began a long career in the U.S. Foreign Service. His book The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan was published in 1990 and his book OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland: Destination Innsbruck was published in 1996. https://collections.ushmm.org https://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection Scope and content of collection The Gerald Schwab papers document Schwab’s work for the International Military Tribunal following World War II; research for his books The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan and OSS Agents in Hitler's Heartland: Destination Innsbruck; his efforts to receive restitutions for Holocaust-era losses; biographical, genealogical, and photographic materials documenting Schwab and his family; and audiovisual and electronic records documenting Schwab’s interests in Holocaust-era topics. International Military Tribunal records include trial documents, photographs and illustrations, personal records, and correspondence documenting Schwab’s work at the Nuremberg trials. Trial documents include material used in conjunction with the Nuremburg trials such as witness lists, a document stating the mental competency of Rudolf Hess, and summaries of the days in court. Photographs and illustrations consists of photographs, ranging from the Palace of Justice and the courtroom itself to the Doctor’s Trial (United States of America vs. Karl Brandt, et. al.) and court officials. Photographs include small and large prints of the defendants and the prosecutors and a photo album with larger prints of the International Military Tribunal in action, with captions explaining the various scenes. Also included are caricature sketches of the defendants by German newspaper caricaturist, Peis. Personal documents include correspondence created by Gerald Schwab while working for the International Military Tribunal, passes to the trials, a list of the medals and pins he donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, orders, and related items. Correspondence includes Schwab’s personal letters describing his Nuremberg work to relatives and friends, subsequent efforts to collect documents related to the trials, and a 45th anniversary reunion of Nuremberg staff. Records related to The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan include Schwab’s correspondence, publishing records, research files, and writings created during his research into Grynszpan’s assassination of Ernst vom Rath and the publication of his book on the same topic. Correspondence includes letters exchanged with researchers and individuals interested in the Grynszpan case as well as with research institutions holding relevant records. Publishing records document the process of the book’s publication and include correspondence with publishing firms, legal records, announcements and reviews, endorsements for the book, and correspondence with production companies about the possibility of making a film based on the book. Research files include manuscripts about Herschel Grynszpan by Alain Cuenot and Friedrich Grimm, articles and clippings about Grynszpan, reproductions of original source material, and some of Schwab’s notes and lists of sources. Occupation Greenup records document Schwab’s research into Operation Greenup, a mission that parachuted three German-speaking spies into the area around Innsbruck to investigate Nazi fortifications and track their movements. Records include drafts of articles and chapters, a letter from Fred Mayer, notes, photographic materials (photographs, negatives, and copy prints), postcards of Ambergerhütte and Oberperfuss, printed materials (originals and photocopies), research materials, information about Schwab’s 2006 Rotteck Gymnasium visit, and tourist information and maps. Restitution paperwork consists of correspondence, forms, financial records, and legal records documenting the Schwab family’s efforts to receive compensation for money and property confiscated during the Holocaust. Claims relate to personal property and valuables, immigration costs, taxes, pensions, and family businesses registered in Germany, Switzerland, and France. https://collections.ushmm.org https://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection Biographical and genealogical materials