Visit to the Wiener Library [TG2v/WienerLib]
The Wiener Library is one of the world’s leading and most extensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. Formed in 1933, the Library’s unique collection of over one million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimony.
Please join us for a 60 minute tour around the stores and Reading Room, with a chance to see some interesting items from the collections followed by a Q&A session.
www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
The Wiener Library traces its roots back to Germany in the 1920s. Dr Alfred Wiener, a German Jew, having fought in WWI, returned to Germany in 1919 and was horrified at the surge of right-wing antisemitism, which blamed Jews for the defeat.
Dr Wiener worked with the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith to combat antisemitism, writing, lobbying and speaking publicly. From 1925 (the year Hitler published Mein Kampf) he perceived a greater threat from the Nazi Party than any other antisemitic group or party. Under his influence an archive was started just to collect information about the Nazis, which formed the basis of campaigns to undermine their activities.
Dr Wiener and his family fled Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. Dr Wiener’s first archive is believed to have been destroyed. Later that year he set up the Jewish Central Information Office at the request of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Anglo-Jewish Association. The JCIO essentially continued the work of the earlier archive.
Following the November Pogrom of 1938, Wiener prepared to bring his collection to the UK. It arrived the following summer and is believed to have opened on the day the Nazis invaded Poland.
Today, the collection is among the largest and most respected in the world and continues to grow. In 2011 it moved to new premises in Russell Square and began a programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to improve access and open its collections to the widest possible audience. In 2013, the Wiener Library celebrated its 80th anniversary year – view a digital version of our anniversary photo book featuring a photo series by Ali Mobasser, Russell Weekes & Marianne Noble Photography, Art Direction & Design.
Anyone interested, can stay longer to look at the current exhibition on this date:
London 1938: Defending ‘Degenerate’ German Art:
https://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/London-1938
Bookings for visits are open to members of the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries only.
To reserve a space please use our online booking form.
If subsequent to booking a place on a cpd25 visit you find that you are unable to attend, we ask that you let us know this as soon as possible.
Cancellations received less than three working days before the event will be charged a £15 cancellation fee. In the event of a ‘no-show’ on the day, £25 will be charged.