The Archive Thief
The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
Published on 20. August 2015
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-19-938095-4 (ISBN)
Description
Born into poverty in Russian Poland in 1911, Zosa Szajkowski (Shy-KOV-ski) was a self-made man who managed to make a life for himself as an intellectual, first as a journalist in 1930s Paris, and then, after a harrowing escape to New York in 1941, as a scholar. Although he never taught at a university or even earned a PhD, Szajkowski became one of the world's foremost experts on the history of the Jews in modern France, publishing in Yiddish, English, and Hebrew. His work opened up new ways of thinking about Jewish emancipation, economic and social modernization, and the rise of modern anti-Semitism.
But beneath Szajkowski's scholarly success lay a shameful secret. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the scholar stole tens of thousands of archival documents related to French Jewish history from public archives and private synagogue collections in France and moved them, illicitly, to New York. There, he used them as the basis for his pathbreaking articles. Eventually, he sold them, piecemeal, to American and Israeli research libraries, where they still remain today.
Why did this respectable historian become an archive thief? And why did librarians in the United States and Israel buy these materials from him, turning a blind eye to the signs of ownership they bore? These are the questions that motivate this gripping tale. Throughout, it is clear that all involved--perpetrator, victims, and buyers--saw what Szajkowski was doing through the prism of the Holocaust. The buyers shared a desire to save these precious remnants of the European Jewish past, left behind on a continent where six million Jews had just been killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. The scholars who read Szajkowski's studies, based largely on the documents he had stolen, saw the treasures as offering an unparalleled window into the history that led to that catastrophe. And the Jewish caretakers of many of the institutions Szajkowski robbed in France saw the losses as a sign of their difficulties reconstructing their community after the Holocaust, when the balance of power in the Jewish world was shifting away from Europe to new centers in America and Israel.
Based on painstaking research, Lisa Leff reconstructs Szajkowski's story in all its ambiguity by taking us backstage at the archives, revealing the powerful ideological, economic and scientific forces that made Holocaust-era Jewish scholars care more deeply than ever before about preserving the remnants of their past.
But beneath Szajkowski's scholarly success lay a shameful secret. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the scholar stole tens of thousands of archival documents related to French Jewish history from public archives and private synagogue collections in France and moved them, illicitly, to New York. There, he used them as the basis for his pathbreaking articles. Eventually, he sold them, piecemeal, to American and Israeli research libraries, where they still remain today.
Why did this respectable historian become an archive thief? And why did librarians in the United States and Israel buy these materials from him, turning a blind eye to the signs of ownership they bore? These are the questions that motivate this gripping tale. Throughout, it is clear that all involved--perpetrator, victims, and buyers--saw what Szajkowski was doing through the prism of the Holocaust. The buyers shared a desire to save these precious remnants of the European Jewish past, left behind on a continent where six million Jews had just been killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. The scholars who read Szajkowski's studies, based largely on the documents he had stolen, saw the treasures as offering an unparalleled window into the history that led to that catastrophe. And the Jewish caretakers of many of the institutions Szajkowski robbed in France saw the losses as a sign of their difficulties reconstructing their community after the Holocaust, when the balance of power in the Jewish world was shifting away from Europe to new centers in America and Israel.
Based on painstaking research, Lisa Leff reconstructs Szajkowski's story in all its ambiguity by taking us backstage at the archives, revealing the powerful ideological, economic and scientific forces that made Holocaust-era Jewish scholars care more deeply than ever before about preserving the remnants of their past.
Reviews / Votes
[A] riveting portrait of an enigmatic scholar and a reflection about the construction of archives...[A] richly researched, lucidly written and, ultimately, deeply moving book...Lisa Moses Leff has made an invaluable contribution to the expanding literatures on postwar communal reconstruction and Jewish cultural restitution. * Geraldine Gudefin, H-Judaic * The Archive Thief is a richly researched, lucidly written and, ultimately, deeply moving book... The book is all the more engaging that its author is able to situate Szajkowski's actions within the context of postwar discussions about the rightful ownership of archives. Finally, Leff makes a very persuasive argument about the ambiguous legacy of Szajkowski's collecting and sales. * Geraldine Gudefin, H-Judaic * Looking at the title of this compelling monograph, the reader could be forgiven for wondering how a man could possibly be both a thief and a saviour. The paradox within this question is answered skilfully by Moses Leff, who has very successfully woven together a detective story which is underpinned by a serious academic examination of the nature and purpose if archives, their content and the question of ownership. ... An intriguing read. * Susan Cohen, International History Review * [an] engrossing and painstakingly documented book. Her [Leff's] research was made all the more demanding by the fact that there is no way of knowing all that is actually missing from collections. * Caroline Moorehead, Times Literary Supplement * Entertaining and very well written, this is an invaluable contribution to the historiography on French Jewry in the modern era. * Bob Moore, French History * Through Szajkowski's personal biography, Leff has illuminated the larger story of how Jewish archives and libraries were constructed and reconfigured in the aftermath of World War II, as the centers of gravity in the Jewish world shifted from Europe to Israel and the United States ... Leff casts new light on this transformative moment in postwar Jewish life. As a result of her beautifully written and deeply researched book, we have a greater appreciation of the degree to which the libraries and archives on which we depend are themselves "historical artifacts". In this sense, Leff's thought-provoking and imaginative book raises questions that will intrigue all historians. This work also constitutes a fitting tribute to a man who, despite his flaws and weaknesses, made immense contributions to the field of Jewish history. * Jewish History * [A] superb book ... Pages fly by as her meticulous and surprising study of the extraordinary life of her "hero" keeps her reader breathless ... an astonishing work of history, founded on a group of original documents by means of which she raises fundamental questions about the very nature of the archive as it fluctuates between being a state memoir and a way to preserve a particular history and culture. * Journal of Modern History * [A] brilliant new book ... Leff has produced a page-turning account that offers a model for how post-Holocaust Jewish history should be written. The work ponders questions that should interest both specialist and generalist readers and ought to be assigned widely and debated extensively. * Nathan Kurz, English Historical Review * Lisa Moses Leff tells Szajkowski's fascinating story in a book as gripping as a crime novel, with profound insight into the role played by archive collections in the modern construction of national histories Leff creates a complex portrait of this 'archive thief,' who was no simple villain Szajkowski's story is stunning and Leff tells it exceptionally well. The Archive Thief is a meticulously researched scholarly work that deftly incorporates archival sources, Szajkowski's published writings, and his private correspondence. It is beautifully written and sophisticated without ever becoming pedantic. * H-France * The Archive Thief is a richly detailed and sympathetic portrait that unfolds with elements of a detective story In writing about the trajectory of Szajkowski's life and career, she raises provocative questions about the nature of collecting, the role of archives and where they belong, and the very writing of history. * The Jewish Week * A work of learned detection and a history of the making of history, this absorbing study is also a portrait of, perhaps, the oddest of all creators of modern Jewish scholarship. A shy, roguish, charming man, self-taught, an erstwhile Communist and fighter in the French Foreign Legion, Zosa Szajkowski's jagged, complex life is explored in this work with perceptiveness, and commendable empathy. * Steven J. Zipperstein, Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University * With her dogged research, keen analysis and scintillating writing, Lisa Leff in The Archive Thief marries historical scholarship with the detective genre. The story of Zosa Szajkowski could have been -- and maybe still will be -- the stuff of a great mystery novel, played out on multiple continents, with a perplexing villain who sometimes seems like a hero. But instead Lisa Leff has used these details to show the complex work done by archives and the deep ideological meaning associated with the documents of the past. * Hasia Diner, Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History and Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History, New York University * Why did an accomplished Jewish historian steal tens of thousands of historical documents? In unraveling that mystery, Lisa Moses Leff has created a compelling personal portrait, while at the same time elucidating key issues of Jewish history and historiography in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, The Archive Thief is more than just a fine work of scholarship; it is also a page-turner. * Aaron Lansky, author of Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books * Leff, in this deeply researched and intriguing book, draws a nuanced portrait of a scholar who turned to crime to preserve his status as a historian of modern Jewish history. * Times of Israel *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
12 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight
534 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-938095-4 (9780199380954)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lisa Moses Leff
The Archive Thief
The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
Book
08/2018
Oxford University Press Inc
€25.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Lisa Moses Leff
The Archive Thief
The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
E-Book
06/2015
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€9.99
Available for download
Lisa Moses Leff
Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
E-Book
01/2015
1st Edition
Oxford University Press, USA
€21.59
Available for download
Person
Lisa Moses Leff was born in Washington D.C. She attended Oberlin College and received her PhD from the University of Chicago. She is the author of Sacred Bonds of Solidarity: The Rise of Jewish Internationalism in Nineteenth-Century France. She is now Professor of History at American University where she is also affiliated with the Jewish Studies Program.
Content
Introduction ; Chapter 1: Szajkowski's Passion ; Chapter 2: A Usable Past ; Chapter 3: A Salvage Operation ; Chapter 4: The Parachutist ; Chapter 5: Partisans of the Exodus ; Chapter 6: The Fact Collector ; Chapter 7: French Losses ; Chapter 8: The Buyers ; Conclusion ; Bibliography of works by Z. Szajkowski ; General Bibliography