World War II
From LibraryWiki
The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library holds a fine array of primary documents from World War II. The far-ranging materials provide distinct insight from widely different stances during the intense war which affected all areas of the globe. Rare Books invites patrons to explore these exciting resources. We especially encourage you to examine these exemplary collections:
- The collection of Michael A. Quinn features two folders of photocopies made from WWII autograph books accumulated during a long march, made while in possession of his son, Michael H. Quinn, one CD of WWII autograph books, and one copy of his book, Love Letters to Mike.
- The collection of forty-three boxes, fifteen storage boxes, and two trunks pertains to the experience of Ms. Suyemoto, a Japanese-American who spent several years in an American internment camp during World War II.
- Collection includes:
- H. Schmidt (German Army): 175 page manuscript diary dated 1915-1918, with long full entries on every page. He tells of fighting in WW I in France, Italy, and Romania.
- Waist-Gunne Vernon C. Utter (U.S. Air Force, 344th Bomb Squad, 98th Bomb Squad Group, from Saco, Montana): 98 page manuscript diary, dated 1942-1943, with excellent entries.
- Rolfe Griewauk (German chaplain): 300 letters and cards 1943-1944 mostly, from Russia and the Baltic States, about God and war and his taking care of the soldiers.
- Captain Rudi France: About 340 letters, 1941-1945, mostly from him to his family (the last 4 letters from him in an American POW camp).
- Hans H. Wittlinger (German Army): 88 page mss. Diary, 1939-1941, with lengthy entries he later became a POW with 12 printed ephemera, 3 photos of him and other soldiers.
- Sgt. Josef Kunfler (78th Assault Div-German Army): 930 letters, 1941-1943..plus an additional 130 handwritten postcards, mostly from the Eastern Front (Russia).
- Antonin Skuvick Zojatec (German Army-a prisoner of war): Group of 19 prisoner-of-war postcards, from him in Turkestan, Russia to his family in Prague each card a long letter of his experiences in prison.
- Titus Kashammer (German Army): Group of 650 letters to and from him and his wife and family in Schwartzwald, Germany. He writes mostly from the Eastern Front (Russia, Baltic States, Poland) about his experiences, 1939-1943.
- Siegfried Thiele (Luftwaffe and German Navy): Archive of 9 manuscript diaries in large format notebooks, 614 total pages, 1943-1945. An amazing group by this soldier who also worked in Labor Camps; plus 48 pencil drawings.
- Oberstrumfuhrer O. Kruse (SS Division): Group of 17 manuscript diaries, 1920-1950's (several during WWII), 540 total pages. He was a POW in Russia.
- Hans Gaber and family: Over 1100 letters and cards, 1935-1945, to and from him and his family, with much from him on the Eastern Front (Russia).
- The Elisabeth Billig Collection
- Elisabeth Billig, was a simultaneous interpreter who worked during the American Nuremburg Trials. She primarily worked with Michael Musmanno, the presiding judge for the tribunal (He was also a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Judge and a defense attorney for Sacco and Vanzetti.) During the trials, Musmanno and Billig were commissioned by the United States government to investigate the death of Adolf Hitler. They conducted interviews with a number of people who were present in the Berlin bunker during April 1945.
- The collection includes documents pertaining to the American Nuremburg tribunal and interviews about the death of Adolf Hitler while in his bunker in Berlin, April 1945. The collection also includes documents by Michael Musmanno; a number of articles written about him or by him (including the book and film, Ten Days to Die,); his obituary from many newspapers; and collection of photographs.
- This collection consists of FBI files release to Stephan in the 1980s and 90s through the Freedom of Information act. The files were compiled by the FBI during the 1940s and 50s on German writers, filmmakers, and other prominent intellectuals. These individuals left Europe after 1933 during the Nazi period. A great majority of them immigrated to the United States, although a few resided in Mexico. Labeled with terms such as "Communazis," they were subjected to FBI surveillance as aliens with subversive tendencies and potential communist/facist sympathies. In reality, these immigrants were victims of the fascist system, who remianed largely unaware that their loyalty to tht United States was considered suspect and their activities were observed by the FBI.
