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http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection FONDS DAVID DIAMANT (CMXXV), 1925-1994 2017.20.1, RG-43.160 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: Fonds David Diamant (CMXXV) Dates: 1924-1994 Accession number: 2017.20.1 Record Group Number: RG-43.160 Creator: Anny Latour Extent: 14,699 digital images (JPEG) Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126 Abstract: Records of David Diamant (Aaron David Erlich). Languages: French Administrative Information Access: Collection is open for use, but may be stored offsite. Please contact the Reference Desk more than seven days prior to visit in order to request access. Reproduction and use: Collection is available for use. Material may be protected by copyright. Please contact reference staff for further information. No publication of documents on the World Wide Web, Internet, etc., or reproduction of microfilm reels without the permission of the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine (CDJC). Cite the CDJC as holder of originals. Preferred citation: (Identification of item), Fonds David Diamant (CMXXV), 1924-1994, RG-43.160, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC. Acquisition information: These materials were collected and arranged by the Centre de Documentation Juive 2 https://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection Contemporaine (CDJC). Source of acquisition is the Memorial to the Shoah, Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center (Mémorial de la Shoah, Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine), France. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archival Programs Division in February 2017. Existence and location of originals: Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine Mémorial de la Shoah 17, rue Geoffroy l’Asnier 75004 Paris FRANCE tel. +33-(0)1 42 77 44 72 www.memorialdelashoah.org Accruals: Accruals may have been received since this collection was first processed, see archives catalog at collections.ushmm.org for further information. Processing history: Aleksandra Borecka, February 2017. Inventory adapted from the French inventory provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archival Programs Division. Biographical Information David Diamant is the pseudonym for David Erlich, born March 18, 1904 in Hrubieszow, Poland, into a family of 8 children, 4 of whom were deported or executed. His family was active in the Polish Communist Party and he became a member in May 1925. When he emigrated to France in the late 1920’s, he continued his political activities with the Party. Diamant was not called up for military service during WW II, but worked in the aeronautics industry. He distributed clandestine copies of the Party newspaper, L’Humanité and pasted small posters around the workplace. He refused to work in Germany twice during the Occupation. He was leader of a resistance group in the 10th arrondissement of Paris where he sent men to join the Francs tireurs et partisans and prepared young recruits to join the Resistance. With 2 other comrades, he organized the sabotage of glove production destined for the German army. At the beginning of the insurrection in August 1944, he joined the Communist Yiddish-language newspaper, Naïe Presse (Presse Nouvelle), to gather testimony. After the war, he was active in creating a benevolent association to help Jewish refugees from Poland. This became the UJRE and he was President. He also wrote several books in Yiddish, translated into French, concerning Jewish foreigners. Le billet vert refers to the green slip sent to notify non-French Jews that they were to report to the local police station. This was the first step in their transfer to the internment camps of Beaune-la-Rolande and Pithiviers in the Loiret, near Orléans. He also wrote a book in homage to the Jewish Communist Resistance fighters active during WW II. For many years, he was also the Director of the Marxist Library of Paris in the 13th arrondissement. Scope and content of collection Records of David Diamant (Aaron David Erlich). Records include personal papers, letters, manuscripts, archives, photographs, drafts, press clippings and work books as well as letters of internees, political detainies and deporties, and testimonies and records of the Union des juifs pour la resistancé et l'entraide (UJRE), Union of Jews for Resistance and Mutual Aid. System of arrangement Arranged in fifteen series: 1. Personal archives, 1925-1994 3 https://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection 2. Correspondence, 1946-1994 3. Published work, 1944-1993 4. Press articles,1944-1992 5. Unpublished manuscripts (most undated) 6. Exhibitions-various materials about the exhibitions made by Diamant from 1946 to 1971, under the patronage of the UJRE and the Maurice Thorez Institute, 1946-1993 7. Between war documents, 1918-1939 8. Documents of the Second World War, 1939-1947 (includes a Diary of Peter Feigl, 1942-1944 (CMXXV / 8/6); 9. Letters of internees, political detainees sentenced to death and deportees,1939- 1945 10. Archives of the Union of Jews for Resistance and Mutual Aid [Union des juifs pour la resistancé et l'entraide (UJRE)], 1944-1989 11. Testimonies and memoirs, 1944-1989: Testimonies on Jewish resistance, Interviews, and Written Testimonies 12. Biographies, 1944-1991 13. Documentation files, 1941-1981 14. Press clippings, 1926-1993: French press, 1926-1993, and Yiddish press, 1937-1993 15. Drafts and manuscripts, 1944-1993. Most series organized in chronological order. Indexing terms Personal Name Diamant, David. Coparate Name Union des juifs pour la resistancé et l'entraide. Maurice Thorez Institute. World ORT Union. Union gené ralé des israeliteś de France. Gurs (Concentration camp) Pithiviers (Concentration camp) Drancy (Concentration camp) Beaune-la-Rolande (Concentration camp) Topical Term World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--France. World War, 1939-1945--France--Prisoners and prisons. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--France. Jews--Legal status, laws, etc.--France--History--20th century. Jewish communists--France--History--20th century. Antisemitism--Europe--History--20th century. Communism and Judaism--Europe--History--20th century. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--France. Geographic Name France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945. France--Politics and government--1914-1940. Europe--History--German occupation, 1940-1945. Genre/Form Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) Letters. 4 https://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection Photographs. Registers. Testimonies. Certificates. Applications. Bulletins. Diaries. CONTAINER LIST NOTE: French inventory provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archival Programs Division. Mémorial de la Shoah, Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine), France. Fonds David Diamant (CMXXV) SOMMAIRE 1. NOTICES BIOGRAPHIQUE ET BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE Biographie de David Diamant Ouvrages Albums illustrés et catalogues Expositions 2. INSTRUMENT DE RECHERCHE Description du fonds Répertoire 3. ANNEXES Matériaux classés à part Matériaux transmis aux autres services Archives complémentaires Notes 5 https://collections.ushmm.org http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection NOTICES BIOGRAPHIQUE ET BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE דוד דיאמאנט Biographie de David Diamant David DIAMANT est le nom de résistant d’Aron David ERLICH. Né le 18/03/1904 à Hrubieszow en Pologne dans une famille juive progressiste, David est le cinquième de huit enfants. Son frère Samuel, métallurgiste, participe à la Révolution d'Octobre à Odessa ; sa sœur, institutrice, est une militante communiste ; et son frère cadet dirige les Jeunesses communistes en Ukraine occidentale. Quatre de ses frères et sœurs restés en Europe de l’Est seront soit fusillés, soit gazés pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale. David survit dans la misère en faisant de nombreux métiers. A l’âge de dix-neuf ans, après avoir réussi les examens généraux et spécialisés en mathématiques, il est reçu au Technikum de Vilnius. C'est pendant son séjour à Vilnius qu'il adhère, le 25/05/1925, au Parti communiste où il est chargé des fonctions de secrétaire de la cellule du Technikum. Par la suite il devient responsable du Secours rouge de la ville, ainsi que de plusieurs cellules des écoles professionnelles, des lycées et de trois séminaires (écoles normales). Enfin, il s'occupe de la presse clandestine et envoie les persécutés politiques vers l'Union Soviétique. Dénoncé, il doit vivre pendant trois mois dans la clandestinité. De retour dans sa ville natale, il travaille d'abord dans les ateliers de réparations des machines agricoles, puis obtient un emploi à la station électrique municipale où il reste pendant trois ans, jusqu'au jour où il est dénoncé comme communiste. Pendant son séjour à Hrubieszow, il est responsable du Secours rouge, puis devient dirigeant de tout le mouvement de la Jeunesse communiste. Après son licenciement, la famille doit abandonner son logement. David fait des démarches pour