Metadata: Estate of Veit Wyler
Collection
- Country:
- Switzerland
- Holding institution:
- Archives of Contemporary History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiv für Zeitgeschichte der ETH Zürich
- Postal address:
- Hirschengraben 62, CH-8092 Zurich
- Phone number:
- +41 44 632 40 03
- Web address:
- https://www.afz.ethz.ch/
- Email:
- afz@history.gess.ethz.ch
- Reference number:
- NL Veit Wyler
- Title:
- Estate of Veit Wyler
- Title (official language):
- Nachlass Veit Wyler
- Creator/accumulator:
- Wyler, Veit
- Date(s):
- 1850/2002
- Language:
- German
- English
- French
- Italian
- Hebrew
- Russian
- Polish
- Yiddish
- Extent:
- 7.4 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection includes documents of the editorial archive of the journal ‘Das Neue Israel’, which forms a separate collection in the AfZ. One of the thematic focuses of the estate is Veit Wyler's work as a lawyer. Of particular importance here is the defence of David Frankfurter, who shot the National Socialist regional group leader Wilhelm Gustloff in Davos in February 1936. The trial at the criminal court in Chur is comprehensively documented as is Wyler's correspondence with David Frankfurter during his time in prison and his efforts to help Frankfurter to escape after the 1945 pardon. The 1974 film "Confrontation" by Rolf Lyssy about the Frankfurter trial is also available. The defence of the German Communist Heinz Neumann who was to be extradited to the National Socialists at the beginning of 1935 at the request of the Zurich public prosecutor's office should also be highlighted. Wyler's commitment to Jewish refugees before, during and after the Second World War is also very well documented. This includes extensive correspondence with refugees and authorities about obtaining visas for emigration, including to Palestine and South America, entry and residence in Switzerland, as well as about reparations and property.
A second set of sources concerns Wyler's Zionist activities. This includes documents on his activities in Zionist organisations such as the Zionist Local Group Zurich, the Swiss Zionist Association and Keren Hajessod, in which Wyler held important positions. From 1948, he also published Das Neue Israel, a journal with political, economic and cultural contributions mainly from Israel. Wyler was editor and chief editor for 40 years. The editorial archive forms a separate collection in the AfZ. Only the business documents of the A.G. Jüdischer Verlag, which relate to the founding of the journal, among other things, are kept in this collection. Wyler's Zionism is also evidenced by his activities as a promoter of science and business in the newly founded state of Israel, e.g., for the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.
Finally, Wyler's biography is extensively documented in the estate, including his own detailed life stories. There are also family history documents, especially on his father Louis Wyler, which supplement his own estate in the AfZ.
Some important activities are only partially documented. For example, almost no documents are available for the local Zionist group Zurich. The business records of the Swiss Zionist Association, including the minutes of various committees, are only incompletely preserved. There are also very few records of Wyler's activities at Keren Hajessod. His commitment to the Weizmann Institute of Science is documented throughout for the years 1997-2001; only isolated documents bear witness to his earlier work. There is also little or only incomplete evidence of Wyler's activities in the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) and the Jewish Community of Zurich (ICZ), as well as for various foundations and funds (including the Vera Solomon Foundation and the Stern Fund). In contrast, Wyler's membership in the International Centre for Peace in the Middle East is documented in somewhat more detail. According to his descendants, all historically relevant documents from Veit Wyler's residence on Böcklinstrasse in Zurich have been handed over to the AfZ. It must therefore be assumed that the missing files have not been preserved.
- Archival history:
- Even during his lifetime, Veit Wyler transferred files from his estate to the AfZ (Archives of Contemporary History) in several deliveries. After Wyler's death, the AfZ received further deliveries from his son-in-law, Rafi Siano, between 2003 and 2011.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Veit Wyler worked in the law firm of Wladimir Rosenbaum in Zurich, before opening his own law firm in Zurich. From about 1935 on he worked for Jewish refugees (including by obtaining visas for onward migration and as a representative vis-à-vis Swiss authorities) and from 1940 to 1945 he was a member of the Board of the Jewish Community of Zurich (ICZ) as well as a delegate for many years to the Central Committee of the Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities (SIG). From 1940 to 1943 Wyler was president of the Zionist local group in Zurich and from 1944 to 1951 president of the Swiss Zionist Association. He was a long-standing Swiss delegate at congresses of the World Zionist Organisation (WCO) and between 1948 and 1986 publisher and editor of the magazine "Das Neue Israel". From 1960 to 1970 was president of Keren Hajessod and from 1964 to 1969 he was a member of the Commission on Reorganisation of the World Zionist Organisation. From 1965 on he was a member of the European Committee, Board of Governors and Executive Council of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel and from 1987 to 1994 member of the International Centre for Peace in the Middle East, Tel Aviv. He was awarded numerous honours, including an honorary doctorate from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1980.
- Access points: locations:
- Switzerland
- Subject terms:
- Legal matters
- Refugees
- Restitution and compensation
- Zionism
- Zionism--Zionists
- Access, restrictions:
- Partially restricted. Subject to application.
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid is available.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://onlinearchives.ethz.ch/
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2020