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Lessie Sachs Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 4031

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the collection consists of writings by Lessie Sachs. Included are poems and essays, in the form of both handwritten manuscripts and typescript galley proofs with handwritten annotations. A copy of a private-press edition of Tag- und Nachtgedichte with accompanying reviews and advertising is included as well. There is also a book of transcribed letters exchanged between Lessie Sachs and Helene Bielschowsky regarding Lessie Sachs's daughter Dorothee. Miscellaneous documents include Dorothee Wagner's official change of address certificate (1934; German polizeiliche Ummeldung), a telegram from Walter Freudenthal and a few clippings.

Dates

  • Creation: 1931-1944

Creator

Language of Materials

This collection is in German and English.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Lessie Sachs was born in Breslau in 1897. Her father was the neurologist Heinrich Sachs. She attended arts and crafts schools in Breslau and Munich, where she belonged to liberal student and artist organizations. Her first poems were published in the journal Simplicissimus . Later, several major German newspapers such as the Vossische Zeitung published her work. Some of her poems were also set to music and broadcast by several radio stations. She also practiced drawing and handicrafts. In 1933, she married the composer and pianist Josef Wagner. A year later, their daughter Dorothée was born. The family immigrated to the United States in 1938 and settled in New York, where Lessie Sachs continued to write and publish. Some of her works appeared in the German-Jewish newspaper Aufbau . Lessie Sachs died in 1942. A collection of her poems was published by her husband in New York in 1944 under the title Tag- und Nachtgedichte , with a foreword by Heinrich Mann.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (10 folders)

Abstract

Poems and essays, both published and in manuscript form, as well as correspondence and some personal papers comprise this collection.

Other Finding Aid

An earlier inventory is available in folder 0.

Related materials

A copy of Tag- und Nachtgedichte by Lessie Sachs is also available in the LBI library.

See also the Josef Wagner Collection (AR 5135).

Title
Guide to the Lessie Sachs Collection, 1931-1944  AR 4031
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by LBI Staff
Date
© 2010
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • March 21, 2012 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States