IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0367 EXS
Held at: Institute of Modern Languages
Title: Exile Archive
Date(s): c 1939-1998
Level of description: Collection (Fonds)
Extent: 16 boxes and 1 poster
Name of creator(s): Institute of Germanic Studies
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Exile Archive was established at the Institute in the academic year 1996-97. The Institute already holds the papers of several individuals such as Rudolf Majut, Herbert Thoma and Berthold Auerbach, who were exiled from Germany and Austria during the 1930s as a result of persecution under the National Socialist regime. However, since the setting up of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, the Institute has attracted archival donations from several emigrés, and the Collection now has material relating to both individuals and organisations.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
This collection contains personal papers, correspondence, official documents and literary and autobiographical scripts created by or relating to German-speaking exiles and exile-related organisations mainly in the UK. Some of the material dates from the period before and during the Second World War, such as a biography of Hitler by Rudolf Olden in the 1930s, and records of the activities of prisoners in internment camps on the Isle of Man in the early 1940s. A significant proportion of the collection is material created in the post-war period on the subject of exile, such as autobiographical accounts of exile by individual refugees, and the research papers of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies. There are also records (including some copies of publications) of literary and other scripts focusing on the experience of exile and the events leading to it, written by exile poets, scholars and journalists and others before and after they emigrated.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, German and Hungarian
System of arrangement:
The material is arranged in two series: material created by or relating to individuals, and material created by or relating to organisations.
Conditions governing access:
Open. At least 48 hours notice is required for research visits.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopies may be made, although this is at the discretion of the Librarian and is dependent on the nature of the material.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Box lists.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Archival history:
This fonds was created by the Institute of Germanic Studies in the 1990s as a collection of material from a variety of sources related to the theme of exile. The material does not share any provenance above file- and sub-series-level groupings.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Various, including the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies at the Institute of Modern Languages.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
The Institute holds the papers of a number of German and Austrian exiles in Britain including Bertold Auerbach, Rudolf Majut, Adolf Placzek and Ernst Philipp, and Herbert Hans Karl Thoma.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Jennifer Hogarth, revised by Alan Kucia as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. Revised by Clare George May 2020.
Date(s) of descriptions: Revised Apr 2002. Revised May 2020.