Saul K. Padover papers 1944-1945

ArchivalResource

Saul K. Padover papers, 1944-1945

Saul K. Padover papers 1944-1945

http://archives.nypl.org/mss/2325

Saul Kussiel Padover (1905-1981), historian and teacher, was born in Austria but came to the U.S. in 1920. He was a prolific author including among his subjects Thomas Jefferson and Karl Marx. From 1938 to 1943 he served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior and did intelligence work in Europe during World War II. Later he taught American political history at the New School in New York City. Collection consists of materials generated in Germany from October 1944 through May 1945 by Padover and two colleagues, Lewis Gittler and Paul Sweet. They were members of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) attached to the U.S. Army. Papers contain copies of psychological and political profiles based on interviews with Nazi party members, workers, industrialists, radicals, government officials, former prisoners in concentration camps, children, and others. Also included are analyses of conditions in the liberated areas, daily summaries of intelligence and political reports, personal journals kept by Padover with reflections on conditions in Germany in the final days of World War II and on-the-spot descriptions of death camps, a few photographs, typescripts of articles by Padover and Gittler, newsclippings from American newspapers, and some memorabilia.

2 linear foot (1 box); 1 microfilm reel

New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division