Albert J. Phiebig ( January 2, 1908 – March 27, 2004 ) was born in Berlin to Siegfried and Helene (née Malachowski). In his memoir, he describes a pleasant childhood in a liberal but socially ambitious family. He acquired his interest in book collecting as a youth, while looking for 16th and 17th-century editions of Greek and Latin texts to replace the modern Teubner editions he deemed unattractive. A childhood summer vacation to his father’s home Flatow in West Prussia (today Złotów, Poland) sparked his other lifelong passion, genealogical research. Phiebig studied at universities in Berlin and Freiburg and thereafter began a career in law. After being dismissed from public service by the Nazis in 1933, he became a statistician for the Reichsvertetung der Deutschen Juden . He also joined the Gesellschaft fuer Juedische Familienforschung, working with noted genealogist Dr. Arthuer Czellitzer . In June 1938, Phiebig married Rosa Gottlieb (1912-1960) in Berlin, with Rabbi Leo Baeck officiating.
In 1939 the couple emigrated to the USA and settled in New York City. They soon had two children, Thomas (born 1943) and Barbara (born 1946). During the war, Phiebig worked at the research and analysis branch of the Central European section of the Office of Strategic Services in Washington and New York City from 1943-1945 . In 1947, he opened an antiquarian bookstore in White Plains, NY. His first wife Rosa died of cancer on August 21, 1960. Phiebig remarried in 1964, to Marianne Hoff (born 1922). He remained a dealer in rare foreign books until his retirement in 2002.
Sources: Collection; LBI memoir 918 ; "In Memoriam," Stammbaum 25 (2004), p. 50 .
From the guide to the Albert Phiebig Collection, undated, 1600s-2002, (Leo Baeck Institute)
