Wiener Library.

Alfred Wiener, the founder of this collection, was a prominent member of the Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens (C. V.) (= Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) from 1919 on. As early as 1925, he described the National Socialist Party as the most dangerous threat for Jews in Germany. In 1928, he took a lead role in establishing the “Büro Wilhelmstraße” of the C. V. to document all Nazi activities and publish anti-Nazi material in order to alert the world to the magnitude of the threat. In 1933, Wiener fled for Amsterdam and, with Prof. David Cohen, set up the Jewish Central Information Office to collect and disseminate information about events in Nazi Germany. In 1939, Wiener emigrated to London, transferring the collection to Manchester Square and making it available to British government intelligence departments. The library soon became known as "Dr. Wiener’s Library" and the name was adopted. After the war, the Library’s academic reputation increased and its collecting policies were broadened. Today, the Wiener Library holds one of the largest specialized collections on the subject of modern Jewish history with special reference to Nazism, Fascism, and anti-Semitism. In 1979-1980, the holdings of the Wiener Library were microfilmed and these microfilm reels were apportioned between the Leo Baeck Institute New York and the New York Public Library.

From the guide to the The Wiener Library - Microfilm collection, 1687-1979, (Leo Baeck Institute Library New York Public Library (In 1979-1980, the holdings of the Wiener Library were microfilmed and these microfilm reels were apportioned between the Leo Baeck Institute New York and the New York Public Library.))

The Wiener Library collated this material about former Nazis who found refuge in a number of Arab countries in the Middle East including Syria and Egypt, some of whom became involved in those countries' intelligence services.

From the guide to the Former Nazis in the Middle East: Various papers, 1960s, (Wiener Library)

The Wiener Library began collecting eyewitness accounts of people who survived the Holocaust in 1957 as part of a project funded by the Claims Conference. The collection included contemporary documentation from the period. This set comprises accounts that were never included into the main series because they were incomplete.

From the guide to the Eyewitness accounts (of the Holocaust), 1939-1956, (Wiener Library)

The correspondence and papers in this collection were generated by staff at the Wiener Library in an effort to identify the provenance and significance of two beer tankards which were deposited at the Wiener Library in memory of Leslie Simon Scott, formerly Ludwig Simon Schutz, of Berlin. The tankards were manufactured by the firm of Kerzilius of Cologne Ehrfeld.

From the guide to the Antisemitic Biersteins: Papers regarding identification, 1990s, (Wiener Library)

The Jewish Relief Unit was the operational arm of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad which was formed in 1943 by the Joint Foreign Committee of the Board of Deputies and the Anglo-Jewish Association and under the auspices and financial responsibility of the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation.

From the guide to the Jewish Relief Unit: Former members' collections, 1945-1984, (Wiener Library)