Bertha V. Corets Papers

Bertha V. Corets Papers 

Bertha V. Corets Papers 

1.2 linear feet (3 Hollinger boxes) 

Bertha Vera Corets (1897-1973) was a wife, mother, businesswoman, and store-owner who became an energetic and effective advocate for social justice. Her papers contain correspondence concerning her social justice activities, particularly in opposition to the rise of Nazism in the 1930s, together with publications and brochures of and pertaining to the many organizations and causes that she supported and led. The Bertha Vera Corets papers are important for many reasons. First, they document the anti-Nazi movement through her work in the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights. Much of the material in Box 1 pertains to these activities. Second, the Corets papers reveal the challenges of her life as an American woman who stood out and made her voice heard for the rights of women in the U.S. and Germany. For example are materials related to the American League for the Defense of Jewish Rights, the forerunner of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League, whose stated purpose was"to acquaint the ladies with the conditions which confront all the Jewish people as well as all the women in Hitler's Germany today" Third, the Corets papers contain two boxes of pamphlets, brochures and publications of numerous anti-Nazi groups together with other social justice issues and causes such as Zionism, anti-Semitism, and support of the Allied effort in World War II. These publications provide contemporary looks at the international Jewish scene in the 1930s and 1940s and show the extent of Bertha Corets’ involvement in pursuit of peace and justice during this time. The Bertha Corets papers provide an important, and rare, glimpse of the life of an active and committed American Jewish woman during one of the most important decades of the 20th century. It is a valuable resource for scholars and students of Jewish, military, social and women’s history — and for anyone interested in studying this time period.