IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 1556 WL 1056
Held at: Wiener Library
Title: Michaelis, Robert (1903-1973): Dreyfus affair book
Date(s): [1962-1972]
Level of description: collection
Extent: 1 folder
Name of creator(s): Various
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Dr Robert Michaelis was born in 1903 in Berlin. Michaelis was of Jewish origin and emigrated to Shanghai in 1939, becoming president of the organisation of emigrant lawyers. He worked in a legal capacity; wrote articles on the rights of emigrants in Shanghai and returned to Germany in 1948 where he became Senatpräsident for Mainz.
Michaelis had been interested in the Dreyfus affair for many years and on retirement in 1957, he devoted much of his time to researching the legal aspects of the case against Dreyfus. The Dreyfus affair was an antisemitic scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery officer in the French Army was found guilty of treason for passing military secrets to the German embassy in Paris. Drefus was suspected for many reasons including his Jewish heritage. Michaelis died in Mainz in 1973.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Robert Michaelis, [1962-1972], comprise original source material, 1056/1; drafts and notes, 1056/2 and printed source material, 1056/3 regarding the Dreyfus affair. Original source material includes correspondence including that of Marcel Thomas, conservator at the Bibliothèque Nationale and Robert Michaelis regarding the authenticity of recently discovered documents relating to the Dreyfuss affair; drafts and notes include an annotated draft of Der Prozess Dreyfus and printed source material including newspaper cuttings and various publications concerning the Dreyfus affair.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: French, German and English
System of arrangement:
Arranged as in Scope and Content.
Conditions governing access:
Open
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Finding aids:
A detailed description exists on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Jewish Central Information Office
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Compiled by Samantha Velumyl.
Date(s) of descriptions: March 2008