Duchin, Edgar (fl 1930-1940): papers regarding refugees from Nazi Europe

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1556 WL 1014
Held at	: Wiener Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/ ›
Full title	: Duchin, Edgar (fl 1930-1940): papers regarding refugees from Nazi Europe
Date(s)	: 1930s-1940s
Level of description	: collection
Extent	: 1 folder
Name of creator(s)	: Duchin | Edgar | fl 1930-1940 | solicitor x Duchinsky | Edgar

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

In 1940 Duchin describes himself, within these records, as having been working on refugee matters for 5 years and having been on various committees. He also states that he assisted Dorothy Buxton in the preparation of her book 'the Refugee and You'. At the request of Professor Leonard Woolf he prepared a memo on the subject of the International Advisory Committee of the Labour Party, which was widely circulated by Transport House. He was one of the Honorary Solicitors assisting the Jewish Refugees Committee and was in close contact with Norman Bentwich. In addition, according to the 1937/8 annual report of the Haldane Society, Duchin was a member of that organisation and chaired a sub-committee on the law relating to aliens for which he wrote a report (see 1014/3).

The papers at 1014/5 which document his activities representing the interests of individual refugees and his presence on a number of committees involved in similar work are testament to his commitment to the cause of refugees. After the war he became involved in the redistribution of property stolen by the Nazis (1014/6). Nothing further is known about him.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Edgar Duchin, 1930s-1940s, comprise circulars, reports, minutes and memoranda of the Refugee Joint Consultative Committee, Central Refugee Committee and the Central Office of Refugees concerning tribunals, employment, allowances, welfare and communication with Germany; agenda, minutes and reports of the National Council of Civil Liberties with respect to refugee matters; papers of the Haldane Society including Duchin's draft report of the Sub-Committee on the Law Relating to Aliens; information sheets and other papers of the organisation Democratic Aid, concerned with the rights of interned aliens, specifically immigrants from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia who were politically active in Left Wing politics and were subsequently interned in Great Britain, includes transcripts of interviews with Otto Beuer, Karl Kreibich, Ludwig Freund and Anton Rudal; correspondence regarding individual cases in which Duchin was involved as a solicitor; minutes of meetings, Parliamentary Debates and correspondence regarding distribution of Nazi assets and a collection of miscellaneous papers including minutes of various committees including the Friendly Aliens Protection Committee and reports of various organisations on various matters including Council for German Jewry, 1938.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
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

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Duchin family

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Samantha Velumyl.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
March 2008