27: Dr Wiener’s Library

Anthony Wells worked at The Wiener Holocaust Library in London for a decade. In this episode he leads the Slightly Foxed editors into the history of the library, which holds one of the most extensive archives on the Holocaust and the Nazi era. We travel to Germany, Amsterdam, New York and Tel Aviv, but it is people rather than places that the library remembers with its annals of personal stories. Dr Alfred Wiener, a German Jew who fought in the First World War, was one of the first to note the rise of the Nazi Party, and he began to assemble an archive of information in order to undermine their activities. From downfall by documentation in the Nuremberg Trial to a tracing service made up of millions of records, we learn how The Wiener Library ensures that those who disappeared are not forgotten. With thanks to The Wiener Library for the image used for this episode’s cover artwork: Member of staff, Mrs Walter at The Wiener Library in 1952 Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: 37 minutes; 6 seconds) Books Mentioned We may be able to get hold of second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles listed below. Please get in touch with Jess in the Slightly Foxed office for more information. The Ratline, Philippe Sands (11:39) An Englishman in Auschwitz, Leon Greenman is out of print (14:25) Dinner of Herbs: Village Life in 1960s Turkey, Carla Grissmann (28:00) Hope against Hope, Nadezhda Mandelstam (29:42) Defying Hitler, Sebastian Haffner (31:04) An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris (33:53) Related Slightly Foxed Articles Comfortable Words, Anthony Wells on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Issue 36 174517, David Spiller on Primo Levi, If This Is a Man and The Truce, Issue 43  Casting Out Fear, Gary Mead on Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Issue 50 The Hunt for Hitler, Adam Sisman on Hugh Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler, Issue 61 Other Links The Wiener Holocaust Library  One Tree Books, Petersfield (23:52) The Petersfield Bookshop (24:45) Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 in E Major by Bach The Slightly Foxed Podcast is hosted by Philippa Lamb and produced by Podcastable