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German Studies Materials in the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Visual Materials

We have a collection of picture books put out by Cigaretten-Bilderdienst, G.m.b.H. that focus on various aspects of the Third Reich (including the 1936 Olympics) and on the life of Adolf Hitler.

Holocaust Poster Exhibition Series in the German Broadsides Collection: Consists of two sets of large black-and-white and color posters produced in the 1990s by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Swastika design on cloth banner fragment, ca. 1945: Black swastika printed on white cloth, approx. 17"x17", possibly a flag fragment or piece of decorative banner.

Wenn die Soldaten durch die Stadt marschieren-- : ein Soldaten-Bilderbuch: A picture book about Nazi soldiers designed to inspire German children.

Online Resources

Check out Calvin College's extensive collection of Nazi propaganda in translation.

Search our Catalog!

To identify Rubenstein print or manuscript material on these topics, search the catalog using subject headings such as these:

And then refine your search by consulting additional subjects as listed with your search results. Alternatively, use keyword searches to find relevant sources and use the subject headings used to identify additional material.

Publications by the German Army

Search the Rubenstein's catalog for "Germany. Heer." in the Author field, in order to find items published by the German Army, primilary during the twentieth century.

Notable Manuscript Collections

Deutscher kampf, [1929?]: Collection of programs of music, songs and speeches as well as the text of speeches, recitations, poetry and quotations from books apparently prepared for the Albert Forster School in Berlin during the Nazi period. Topics include soldiers, workers and peasants, Adolf Hitler, World War I, and the struggle for victory.

In Box 22 of International Center for Transitional Justice records, 1981-2008: Zurof, Dr. Efraim. Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals (April 1, 2004-March 31, 2005): An Annual Status Report. Jerusalem: Simon Wiesenthal Center-Israel, 2005

Floyd Millard Riddick Papers, 1909-2000: Box CS-1 contains a series of letters from a young Jewish woman who wanted Riddick to assist her in obtaining admission to the United States as a student and reflects rising antisemtic rhetoric in Germany near the end of the 1930s.  

Louise Seymour Letters, 1939-1947: Correspondence to Louise Seymour from two young women, Gloria Woolcott Runnalls in England, and Bobby Fackeldey in Germany. The letters from Bobby, ending in 1940, deal primarily with her school activities; the letters from Gloria often describe wartime life in England, including evacuation plans for children, the necessity of carrying gas masks, disruptions of school by air raids, and the lack of cosmetics and the rationing of other goods. Collection also includes a letter from Holland (Sept. 1940) which implicitly endorses the Nazi occupation.

Lenora Greenbaum Ucko papers, 1966-1998: Box 9 contains slides, photographs, oral histories on audiocassettes, 1 VHS videotape, printed and other materials all concerning a 1996 exhibit Lenora Ucko curated in honor of her late husband, Henry Zvi Ucko. The exhibit was entitled "What We Brought with Us" , an exhibit about the personal items taken by German Jews who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The exhibit was first at Duke University and then moved to the NC Museum of History in Raleigh.

Books and Periodicals

Byliśmy w Oświęcimiu (We Were in Auschwitz): Memoirs written by three former prisoners of Auschwitz, Janusz Nel Siedlecki, Krystyn Olszewski, and Tadeusz Borowski. This edition is bound with material cut from a prisoner's uniform.

Nazi Propaganda and Ephemera Series, 1930s-1943, in the German Newspaper Clippings Collection, 1900-1943: Domestic and international Nazi propaganda, including certificates, letterhead, a newspaper clipping, and a Nazi-produced newsletter for America. Also includes 85 pro-Nazi articles, most of unknown origin, in English (possibly translated from German), on various topics, apparently from the 1930s-early 1940s.

Clicking here will bring you to a collection of many handbooks of various kinds from the Germany Army during the period of World War II.

Search by provenance for various collections of Nazi materials: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Haupt-Archiv or Adolf-Hitler-Schule