{ 1 } INTERNATIONAAL INSTITUUT VOOR SOCIALE GESCHIEDENIS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL HISTORY On the Waterfront the On n e w s l e t t e r n o . 1 5 of the friends of the iish 2 0 0 7 on the waterfront 15 · 2007 on the waterfront 15 · 2007 Introduction f r o n t p a g e : The highlight of this issue may be the report of the meeting on 21 June, which after all was initi- f r o n t c o v e r ated by Gilles Borrie, one of our original Friends. His tremendous involvement in the Partij van de o f t h e Arbeid (PvdA, the Social Democratic Party of the Netherlands) politics, combined with his schol- ­I l l u s t r i e r t e arly-historical interest in this subject, led him to suggest the history of local social democracy as ­Ge s c h i c h t e the subject for this day. It has been elaborated here for the Netherlands and for Amsterdam in par- d e r d e u t - ticular, although the Dutch experiences undoubtedly have a far broader validity. We hope that our s c h e n r e v o - foreign friends and readers will identify with the stories of prominent PvdA officials, such as Gilles l u t i o n , s e e Borrie (who served as mayor of Eindhoven, in addition to other offices) and Ed van Thijn (who was p a g e 6 mayor of Amsterdam and later a minister in the Dutch government). The items from Borrie’s per- sonal collection, intended for the iish collections, as well as the presence of many PvdA members, added a special touch to the meeting. Perhaps we will even welcome some of them as new Friends of the iish. Members of the Friends of the iish pay annual dues of one or five hundred euros or join with a lifetime donation of one thousand five hundred euro or more. In return, members are invited to semi-annual ses- sions featuring presentations of iish acquisitions and guest speakers. These guest speakers deliver lectures on their field of research, which does not necessarily concern the iish collection. The presentation and lecture INTERNAT are followed by a reception. In addition to these semi-annual gatherings, all Friends receive a forty-per- I cent discount on iish publications. Friends paying dues of five hundred euros or more are also entitled to NTERNAT I choose Institute publications from a broad selection offered at no charge. The board consults the Friends ONAAL I ONAL about allocation of the revenues from the dues and delivers an annual financial report in conjunction I NST I with the iish administration. The iish was founded by master collector Nicolaas Posthumus (1880-1960) I NST TUUT VOOR SOC in the 1930s. For the past two decades, two of the institutes established by this “history entrepreneur” have I TUTE OF SOC operated from the same premises: the NEHA (Netherlands Economic History Archive) since 1914 and the International Institute of Social History (iish), which is now 72 years old. Both institutes are still collect- I ALE GESCH ing, although the “subsidiary” IISH has grown far larger than the “parent” NEHA. (Detailed information I AL H about the iish appears in: Maria Hunink De papieren van de revolutie. Het Internationaal Instituut I voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1935-1947 (Amsterdam 1986) and in: Jan Lucassen Tracing the past. Collections STORY I and research in social and economic history; The International Institute of Social History, The Nether- EDEN I lands Economic History Archive and related institutions (Amsterdam 1989). For all information concern- S ing the Friends, contact Mieke IJzermans at the iish (mij@iisg). c o l o p h o n international institute of social history cruquiusweg 31 • 1019 at amsterdam • tel. + 31 20 6685866 • fax + 31 20 6654181 • www.iisg.nl • info@ iish.nl • abn amro : 0555958892 • iban: nl69abna 0555958892 • bic: abnanl 2a • editors: jan lucassen and mieke ijzermans • translations: l e e m i t z m a n • photography: hans luhrs • i m a g e r eferencing: m a r g o b uurman and d i t t y m u l d e r • production coordination: aad blok • design and layout: ruparo (ivo sikkema) • printed, with generous support, by: a-d druk b.v. zeist • website: monique van d e r p a l • w e wish to thank a n n e m a r i e c o t t a a r , b o u w e h i j m a , f r a n k d e j o n g , j a a p k loosterman, g ö t z l a n g k a u , c o s e e g e r s , j a n w i l l e m s t u t j e a n d e l s w a g e n a a r • financial administration: guusje varkevisser and tjerck zittema • adminstrative support: yvonne bax • composition of the board: jan lucassen (chairman/treasurer), mieke ijzermans (co-chairwoman), bart hageraats (secretary), maarten brinkman, liesbeth laman-meyer, bauke marinus, jan van olden, ger verrips • issn 1574-2156 { 2 } on the waterfront 15 · 2007 From all nooks and corners n addition to reading this peri- Neurath was not a minister under acquainted at the World Social Iodical, several people appear the Bavarian Council Republic Economic Congress held at the to scrutinize the spelling as well. but was a civil servant in charge Koloniaal Instituut in Amsterdam What more can the editors hope of the Wirtschaftsamt. Had he in 1931, organized under the aus- for, after apologizing for the held political responsibility, he pices of the Industrial Relations errors? Two reactions are particu- would not have escaped execu- Association (I.R.I.). larly noteworthy, as they address tion. Arntz was less a colleague Another reaction is from Anne- incorrect information provided in than a subordinate of Neurath (as marie Cottaar, responsible for the previous newsletters. Ferdinand was the equally important Marie Historisch Beeldarchief Migrant- Mertens (author of Otto Neurath Reidemeister). Nor did Arntz en (HBM), who correctly has en de maakbaarheid van de betere – an ordinary German – need to noted that the title page sketch samenleving, published by Aksant flee occupied Austria. Rather, he for Patrides by Dimitra Sideris a few weeks ago) has observed accepted Neurath’s invitation to (On the Waterfront 14, 2007, p. 14) some errors in our description of come to The Hague. Mertens has originates from the Sideris Collec- the Gerd Arntz Collection (On the substantiated his assumption that tion, rather than from the Aridjis Waterfront 13, 2006, pp. 7-8). Otto Posthumus and Neurath became Collection. S I EDEN I STORY I AL H I ALE GESCH I Presentation of the acquisitions TUTE OF SOC I TUUT VOOR SOC NST I I uring the previous year the undoubtedly fail to do justice to unquestionably deceitful French. NST I iish once again added many others, such as Erich Pechmann, As had already become a tradition ONAL I D new items to its collection, and who after having been imprisoned in his family, Jewish and German ONAAL I we expect to register 250 new ac- in a concentration camp fled to identities were regarded as syn- NTERNAT I quisitions (slightly less than half) the Netherlands in 1936, where he onymous. Nevertheless, Martin INTERNAT and accessions (slightly over half) worked with the communist radio already knew France very well. in 2007 as well. Theneha collec- station “29, 8; Der deutsche Frei- In 1867/68 he had done archival tions are once again growing as heitssender,” obviously focusing research there for his PhD thesis well, albeit at a far more modest on Germany. about Henri IV and Philippe III. rate. The Institut Iranien collec- We would like to go back fur- His lively letters about his war tions previously brought together ther in time, however, to the experiences convey a medley in France are among the highlights Franco-Prussian War. A typescript of German and especially Jew- of the new collections acquired, as from around 1900 entitled “Mar- ish pride, as well as pity for the well as a very special private book tin’s Kriegsbriefe 1870/71” caught French in some parts. On 8 No- collection on the same subject. our eyes. In the fall of 1870 the vember 1870 he wrote from Gros- Below the editors have featured 24 year-old Jewish historian vol- lay, north of Paris: “Incredible, their personal favourites from unteered for the attack on France. how this unfortunate country is among these lovely items. He had enlisted in the armed suffering from the invasion. I will forces without permission from leave out here the war contribu- 2 Martin Emanuel Philippson his parents (his father Ludwig tions and compulsory supplies, (1846-1916) in the Franco- had been a rabbi in Magdeburg requisitioning and the like. In Prussian War, 1870-1871 and edited the Allgemeine Zei- the provinces, where the inhabit- tung des Judentums). His reason ants have stayed behind, and no While clearing out his office, our was simple. After all, he believed fortresses are near, the situation is colleague Götz Langkau made a in “Deutschland, Deutschland tolerable. Even there, however, the dozen smaller archives that had über alles, über alles in der Welt,” population has pretty much been been here for a while available as he wrote his parents. He was picked clean by the onslaught for consultation in the reading proud that so many Jews were of Germans.