World War, 1939-1945, Jewish Underground Resistance collection (David Diamant collection)

World War, 1939-1945, Jewish Underground Resistance collection (David Diamant collection). -- [ca.1939-1945]; predominant 1941-1944 -- 25 cm (ca. 380 items)

David Diamant is the pseudonym of David Erlich.  He was born 18 March 1903 in Hrubieszow, Poland.  He emigrated to France in the 1920s where he remained for the rest of his life.  A Jewish communist, Diamant was a committed member of the underground resistance during World War II; on more than one occasion he was offered safe passage to England but chose instead to remain in France.  After the war he worked initially with the UJRE (l'Union des Juifs pour la Résistance et l'Entraide) and devoted himself to documenting the Jewish resistance by collecting original documents and writing and publishing extensively on the subject.  Diamant died in Paris on 24 August 1994.

Collection consists of original documents collected by David Diamant over a period of approximately 30 years dealing primarily with the Jewish segment of the French underground resistance; many of the documents originate with communist groups, and some deal with Polish groups.  Most of the documents are in French, while some are in Yiddish.

The collection has been arranged in the following series and sub-series (click on links for finding aids in pdf format):
Documents in Yiddish: Leaflets and Internal Documents
Documents of Jewish Resistance Groups and other Groups
      Comité d'action et De Défense de la Jeunesse Juive (CADJJ)
      Forces Unies de la Jeunesse Patriotique
      French Communist Party (PCF); including Groupe Juif
      FTPF and FFI During the Occupation or the Liberation
      FTPF and FFI after the Liberation
      Jeunesse Communiste Juive (ou Jeunes Communistes Juifs)
      MOI (Main d'Oeuvre Immigrée)
      Mouvement de Défense et de Solidarité Contre les Persécutions Antijuives et les Déportations
      Mouvement National Contre le Racisme (MNCR)
      Polish Groups
      Union de la Jeunesse Juive (UJJ)
      Union des Juifs pour la Résistance et l'Entr'aide

      Miscellaneous or Unidentified Groups during the Occupation
      Miscellaneous or Unidentified Groups after the Occupation

Documents Relating to Collaboration
      Government of Vichy – Collaboration
      Épuration [Purge]

Documents on Prisons, Prisoners and Deportées
      Specific Prisons or Camps
      Various Provincial Prisons
      Unidentified Prisons or Camps
      Mouvement National des Prisonniers de Guerre et Déportés
      Songs and Poems from Prison
      Documents on Torture, Executions, etc.

French Leaflets: Jews and Jewish Underground Groups

Incomplete and Unidentified Documents [Not Listed]

Other institutions that have material collected by Diamant include the Musée de la Résistance Nationale in Champigny, the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center in Paris, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Title based on content of collection.
The collection was acquired from Michel Brisebois in 2008.  Mr. Brisebois acquired the collection in 1996-97 from a Paris bookdealer.  The collection had originally been compiled by David Diamant.
Finding aid available (click on links above). Box 1 contains items 0001 to 0182. Box 2 contains items 0183 to 0353 and un-numbered. Sources cited in the finding aid: David Diamant, Les Juifs dans la Résistance française, 1940-1944.  Paris, Le Pavillon [1971]. Referred to as “DD” in the finding aid. (Mills Book Stacks and Research Collections, D 810.J4 D493). Henri Nouguères et al, Histoire de la Résistance en France, de 1940 à1945. 3 vols. Paris: R. Laffaont, 1967 (Mills Book Stacks and Research Collections, D 802.F8 N612). Union des juifs pour la résistance and l'entraide. La presse antiraciste sous l'occupation hitlérienne.... Paris, Edité par le centre de documentation de l'Union des juifs pour la résistance et l'entr'aide, [1950] (Mills Research Collections, D 799.F7P7 1950)
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are expected.