At a Glance
- YIVO celebrates its 100th anniversary with a book featuring 100 unique objects.
- The collection includes Otto Frank’s 1941 letters and a Nazi portrait on a Torah scroll.
- Artifacts span from Holocaust diaries to Italian DP camp dolls and a cannabis-themed menorah.
- Why it matters: The archive preserves the breadth of Jewish experience and keeps fragile history alive.
Founded in 1925 in Vilna and now headquartered in New York City, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research marks a century of documenting Jewish life across the globe. Its latest project, 100 OBJECTS from the Collection of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, showcases a hand-picked selection of 100 items that illustrate the community’s complex history.
A Century of Jewish History in 100 Objects
The book brings together artifacts that cover religious, cultural, and political facets of Jewish life. Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s executive director, emphasizes that the collection includes Zionistic, anti-Zionistic, anarchist, Bolshevist, immigration, and atheist works, illustrating the full spectrum of Jewish thought.
- Otto Frank’s 1941 letters to Nathan Straus Jr. about emigration
- A Nazi portrait on a Torah scroll depicting Arthur Seyss-Inquart
- A 1722 Rothschild manuscript by 12-year-old Amschel Moses
Otto Frank’s Unseen Pleas
The letters, dated from April 30, 1941 to December 11, 1941, were found in YIVO’s archives in 2005. Otto Frank wrote, “I am forced to look out for emigration and as far as I can see U.S.A. is the only country we could go to,” stressing his children’s safety over his own fate. The request to Cuba for a visa was granted only to Otto, but it was cancelled ten days after Germany declared war on the United States. Otto Frank was the sole survivor of the family; Anne’s diary has sold 30 million copies worldwide.
Jonathan Brent said:
> “There are Zionistic works, there are anti-Zionistic works,” he said. “There are materials about anarchism, there are materials about Bolshevism, there are materials about immigration, atheism, the entire gamut of Jewish life.”
A Nazi Portrait on a Torah Scroll
The oil painting, found in a Vienna flea market by Shirley and Mortimer Kadushin, depicts Arthur Seyss-Inquart on a torn Torah scroll. Seyss-Inquart, who was executed in 1946 for crimes against humanity, once declared, “We will smite the Jews where we meet them and whoever goes along with them must take the consequences.” The portrait exemplifies the Nazis’ bureaucratic approach to annihilating Jewish culture.
Jonathan Brent remarked:
> “It was really an act of tremendous, lethal hatred that inspired it, and which you have to somehow connect with that very banal expression.”
Rothschild Manuscript and Italian Dolls
The 1722 manuscript was written by 12-year-old Amschel Moses Rothschild while copying a tractate of the Talmud. It later passed through the Rothschild family for over a century before YIVO honored a descendant in 2012.
A collection of 17 Lenci dolls donated in 1989 represents children from displaced-persons camps in Florence. The dolls wear traditional Siena costumes, symbolizing hope after the war.
| Artifact | Year | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Otto Frank letters | 1941 | Plea for emigration |
| Nazi portrait | 1940s | Symbol of cultural desecration |
| Rothschild manuscript | 1722 | Early Jewish scholarship |
| Italian dolls | 1949 | Post-war hope |
Jonathan Brent said:
> “The dolls from the DP camps are extraordinary expressions of hopefulness about the future, about children playing, the idea that children actually could play.”
Antisemitism at Mohonk Mountain House
A 1922 letter from Lake Mohonk Mountain House rejected employment for a Jewish couple. The letter, dated June 15, 1922, states: “We do not employ people of your race.” This reflects the racial ideologies of the era.
Jonathan Brent explained:
> “They’re turned down, and the reason for their being turned down is very interesting. It’s not that we don’t employ people of your religion. It’s that we do not employ people of your race.”
Eric Gullickson, president of Mohonk, wrote:
> “We regret that 103 years ago an employee of Mohonk took this action on behalf of the Smiley family.”
Hollywood and Jewish Culture
A 1959 photograph at Grossinger’s shows Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher amid a crowd of admirers. Taylor later admitted, “As a matter of fact, I don’t remember too much about my marriage to him, except it was one big, frigging awful mistake,” she says.
The archive also holds a glass menorah that doubles as a cannabis bong, created by David Daily and artist Charlie Glass for Hanukkah celebrations. It reflects modern Jewish engagement with cannabis culture.
Key Takeaways
- YIVO’s 100th-anniversary book showcases artifacts spanning centuries of Jewish life.
- Otto Frank’s 1941 letters reveal desperate attempts to save his family.
- The collection includes unique items-from a Nazi portrait on a Torah scroll to a cannabis-themed menorah-highlighting the community’s resilience.
The YIVO Institute’s centennial celebration reminds us that history is preserved not only in grand narratives but also in the small, often overlooked objects that carry the weight of memory.
